A'ja Wilson 'Dreaded' Playing in Front of Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever Fans
Las Vegas Aces star forward and 2024 WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson has been at the center of much women's basketball community discourse over the past few days.
However, these discussions around her haven't been positive. Race-related comments Wilson made about Paige Bueckers back in April have since resurfaced on X, which has caught the 28-year-old a lot of flack on social media. Then Wilson missed a crucial layup during her game against the New York Liberty on Tuesday, which cost her team dearly and prompted more social media hate her way.
And Wilson might be at the center of more controversy after what she said about playing in Indiana in an ESPN Q&A Wilson did with Tyler Tines released on October 3.
Tines asked Wilson, "The WNBA has taken off the past few years, but it's weird to see it this year. It feels like a lot of Black women in the league have been criticized. Has that been a downer?"
"It really has, in my sense, because it feels like, it's not like we're timid, but it's like you don't want us to do stuff, you just don't want to hear the noise," Wilson said. "It strips us from the genuine [happiness] and pureness and love of the game. Just like, "I don't even want to go down this road."I know it's going to be some idiotic person that's going to talk crazy and then I have to continue to take the high road. That gets exhausting. That's something that I've really seen this year that I've never seen before... And you constantly have to live in that life for four months and over time it's just, 'Ugh.'
"I dreaded being in Indiana, not because it was like the city or nothing, it was just like, I just don't want no s--- to pop off," she added.
A'ja Wilson talking about Indiana this year on A'ja Wilson unfiltered
— Ashwin (@Sudharsan_ak) October 3, 2024
"I dreaded being in Indiana, not because it was like the city or nothing, I just don't want s*** to pop off"
Link: https://t.co/QgQd50w95s#WNBA pic.twitter.com/ewAKAOaNOL
It's difficult to parcel out what exactly Wilson is implying here about Indiana. But what's clear is that she was not thrilled about playing in front of Caitlin Clark and the Fever's passionate fanbase for whatever reason.
"It's like that feeling of constantly having to have that guard up, constantly having to just protect yourself and being ready to take the high road," she added. "Living like that sucks, but it's something that you have to continue to do. It's kind of like code-switching to putting that mask on. You just gotta do it. This year we see it more than ever and it sucks and I hope it just dies down. We're starting to lose the beauty of the game of basketball. That's what I hate the most about it... These folks going crazy."
A'ja Wilson unfiltered: The Las Vegas Aces’ three-time WNBA MVP opens up about her record-breaking season in an exclusive ESPN interview.https://t.co/HzI8rtHfpG
— ESPN Women's Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) October 3, 2024
These quotes seem sure to stir some up some controversy in the coming days.
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.