A’Ja Wilson On 'Podcast P With Paul George'

WNBA champion and 2x MVP A’Ja Wilson talks superteam rivalry with New York Liberty, having a statue at South Carolina, and LeBron’s potential retirement.

We share highlights from this week’s episode of Podcast P with Paul George, presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, featuring WNBA Champion and 2x MVP A’Ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces.

In the episode, A’Ja shares her path to the WNBA, choosing to go to South Carolina over Tennessee and other powerhouse schools, and why she disputes the “Superteam” label for her Las Vegas Aces.

Later in the episode A’Ja and PG discuss the rumors surrounding LeBron James’ retirement and list their all-time WNBA starting 5.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

[04:45] A’JA ON BEING A BASKETBALL LATE BLOOMER AND NOT LIKING THE GAME AT A YOUNG AGE

“I was a late bloomer. I sucked, I was really bad at basketball and I couldn’t stand sweating. I just wanted to be a normal girly girl that was getting my nails done and going to the mall with my friends…I just couldn’t stand the sport, it was disgusting to me. So I probably didn’t start thinking about basketball for real until I was like 14 or 15 years old. My dad played overseas for 10 years in Sweden so he was like ‘You’re gonna hoop, it’s in your blood at this point.’”

[09:00] A’JA ON STRIVING GREATNESS AND WANTING TO BECOME ONE OF THE BEST TO PLAY THE GAME

“When you’re talking GOATS of the W, I need my name to be up there, at least top three. Like that's my goal…When you're thinking of women's basketball, when you're thinking of the W I want my name to be on it. So whatever it takes, whatever it needs to get there, whether it's the rings, whether it's the accolades individually like I want to be up there in that kind of conversation. I need that in order for me to sleep at night.”

[15:12] A’JA ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HAVING A STATUE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

“Normally when people get a statue they’re either dead or knocking at the door…I was nervous when I had to go up there and they revealed it, I was like lord, somebody about to take me out…But when I get those tweets and I see those little kids bringing a basketball up to the statue and mimicking it, that’s why I play….Like I said in my speech, my grandmother couldn’t walk on that campus. My dad couldn’t even go to the University of South Carolina because they were black and now you have a statue of a black woman, right there in the front. I can’t beat that. That’s why I play.”

[30:41] A’JA ON LEBRON’S POTENTIAL RETIREMENT

“Do I think Bron’s gonna retire? No, I don’t think so but I do think he needs time to just chill. I feel like this season was a lot…So I think he just needs time to dissect it all and just really take it all in. But I don’t think he’s going to retire.”

[42:19] A’JA ON WHY SHE DOESN'T BELIEVE THE ACES ARE A “SUPERTEAM” AND DRAWS COMPARISON TO THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

A’Ja: I don’t believe in superteams….I just feel like we’re all coming together with the equal goal and we’re just trying to reach that goal. That doesn’t make us super because we have

PG: If you look to your left you have Kelsey Plum and you look to your right and you have Candace Parker…

A’Ja: We’re talented and skilled, yes. But when it comes to a super team, nah because I feel like that’s where the pressure come in. If we lose a game they’re like ‘oh this super team sucks’ and it’s like well no one told y'all to label us as a super team. I feel like everyone on the outside talks about a super team more than we do.

PG: “It’s different for y'all because Kelsey’s [Plum] been there for a while you drafted Jackie [Young], you’ve been there and got drafted…so ya’ll did it organically and then Candace came over to join the team. I guess it’s not a super team because you all came up together, similar to the Warriors.”