Michael VoepelSep 22, 2025, 08:00 AM ET
- Michael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women's college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women's basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.
As the talent around the WNBA improves, Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson keeps raising her level. That's how Becky Hammon sees it. But one thing concerns the Aces coach when it comes to Wilson's chances to keep adding to the four league MVP awards she has earned.
"I just don't want people to keep moving the bar on A'ja," Hammon told ESPN. "And if you've got voter fatigue, you shouldn't be voting. I don't let someone who plays tired keep playing; they've got to come out of the game.
"I'm like, 'Don't get tired of A'ja.' Because what you're watching is amazing."
Voter fatigue didn't affect Wilson this season. She received 51 of 72 first-place votes in earning MVP. Wilson has now won the MVP award in half of her eight WNBA seasons. Each of the honors is special, but how do they rank?
1. 2024: A unanimous choice
Wilson was so dominant last season that there was no suspense around who would be MVP. And it isn't just the best MVP season for Wilson; we ranked it as the best MVP season in WNBA history a year ago.
Wilson set the league record for scoring average (26.9), while also averaging career highs in rebounds (11.9) and blocks (2.6). She notched her second-highest field goal percentage (51.8). She received every first-place vote, only the second unanimous MVP choice in league history, joining Houston's Cynthia Cooper in 1997, the league's inaugural season.
Disappointment from not winning the 2023 MVP fueled Wilson throughout the 2024 season. In 2023, she not only didn't win in a tight three-way race with New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (the winner) and then-Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (runner-up), but Wilson got a much-maligned fourth-place vote and finished third overall. That seemed to eat at her as much as not winning the award did.
Wilson and the Aces didn't win the WNBA title in 2024, falling to eventual champion New York in the semifinals. But Wilson individually was the season's superstar with stats that will be tough for anyone to replicate.
2. 2025: Strong finishing kick
What stands out most with this year's MVP? How important every game was down the stretch run of the season to secure the No. 2 seed for Las Vegas. Wilson put the Aces on her back and ran up a mountain from a 14-14 record to a 16-game winning streak to close the regular season. It's hard to find a comparable team turnaround in league history, and that captivated MVP voters.
Wilson averaged 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds, making her the first WNBA player to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in multiple seasons. She was co-Defensive Player of the Year with Minnesota's Alanna Smith.
Wilson, 29, said she still finds ways to improve, and that's part of what keeps her so enthusiastic.
"I just want to be the best for my team," Wilson told ESPN. "I don't want to leave any questions or asterisks, or have anyone ask, 'What happened?' I don't ever want my performance to be questioned, like I didn't prepare well enough."
3. 2022: An MVP and a championship
It was a two-player race between Wilson (31 first-place votes) and Stewart (23). This was Hammon's first season as Aces head coach, and she thought it was nearly a dead heat.
"Obviously, I wanted A'ja to win, but I was like, 'You could make a really good argument for Stewie to win it.' I thought this was the closest race," Hammon said. "In my opinion, 2023 shouldn't have been close -- I thought A'ja should have won -- and in 2024, A'ja was historic."
After a crushing semifinals loss to the Phoenix Mercury in 2021, Wilson was on a mission to win the first championship for Las Vegas in 2022. She averaged 19.5 points and 9.4 rebounds in the regular season, leading the Aces to a 26-10 record. They then beat the Sun 3-1 in the WNBA Finals.
4. 2020: Breakthrough season
Wilson was the WNBA's No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year in 2018, made the playoffs for the first time in 2019, then won the MVP in her third season. The league played in a COVID bubble that year in Bradenton, Florida, with a 22-game regular season.
Wilson and Stewart were the top MVP candidates, but Wilson dominated the ballot with 43 of 47 first-place votes. She averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots.
But Stewart, who was with Seattle from 2016 to 2022, got the best of the postseason in 2020. She and the Storm swept Wilson and the Aces 3-0 in the WNBA Finals.
One stat really stands out from Wilson's first MVP season compared to her other three. She didn't attempt a 3-pointer in 2020. She made 31 3-pointers in 2022, 19 in 2024 and 25 this year.
