Aces Share Moment A’ja Wilson Learned She Won WNBA MVP

The Las Vegas locker room broke out into a major celebration for their forward once the announcement was made.
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Aces star A’ja Wilson earned her second career WNBA MVP award on Wednesday, this time for the 2022 season. She previously won in 2020.

The Aces shared a video Wednesday of 2022 WNBA Coach of the Year Becky Hammon telling Wilson shortly before the news broke. 

Quickly after Hammon told the locker room, Wilson’s Aces teammates screamed and cheered for their forward. They hugged her and even poured water on her for the celebration, an homage to a champagne or Gatorade dumping celebration.

The “MVP” chants then began echoing in the locker room.

Wilson’s award comes the day after the Aces secured a spot in the 2022 WNBA finals. No. 1 seed Las Vegas took down the Storm on Tuesday night, winning the best-of-five series 3–1. In the first round, they swept the Mercury in the best-of-three series.

The 26-year-old also won the title for WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year this season. She ranked first in the league for blocks (1.9) and double doubles (17). The Aces star also ranked second in defensive rebounds per game (7.6).

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.