A'ja Wilson Asserts She Could Beat This NBA Star in One-on-One
One of the most intriguing aspects of the new Unrivaled 3x3 women's basketball league is that, according to a November 20 press release, "the league will host a 1-on-1 tournament from February 10-14, 2025, pitting the top players in the world against each other in a $250,000 winner-take-all exhibition to crown the best individual player in the game,"
This unique feature will show the women's basketball community who the league's best 1-on-1 player truly is.
Unfortunately, fans won't get to find out who the world's best 1-on-1 women's basketball player is because some of the WNBA's top players — including Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, and A'ja Wilson — won't be participating in Unrivaled in its first season.
Wilson likely would have been favored to win the 1-on-1 tournament if she was competing. In fact, she is convinced she could beat New York Knicks star Josh Hart if they faced off — which she made very clear during her appearance on the "Roommates Show" that was released on Thursday.
"[It] would be like 8 to 11, me," Wilson said to Hart when they discussed how a 1-on-1 between them would go. "I get ball first? Yeah, you're not going to get it back," she continued.
"I'm not saying you're going to go scoreless, but 8 to 11 I feel like is pretty solid," she added. "So what do you think you'll be, Josh? Don't piss me off."
Hart initially responded by jokingly saying he'd win 11 to 2 before going on to say, "I would say like a good 11... 7."
"Okay, that's fair," said Wilson. "You got 7? Okay."
A’ja Wilson says that she would beat Josh Hart 11-8 in a 1v1 👀
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) November 22, 2024
(via @Roommates__Show) pic.twitter.com/qKdMTiNtsQ
For what it's worth, both Hart and Wilson are listed at 6'4". We'd certainly love to see this matchup play out.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.