Aces' A'ja Wilson earns historic
fourth WNBA MVP award, winning honor back to back
[September 22, 2025]
By DOUG FEINBERG
Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson is in a class by herself, winning
the WNBA MVP for an unprecedented fourth time.
She won the award last season as the unanimous choice and also in
2020 and 2022. Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson all
won the award three times.
“It's not going to hit me until the end of the season honestly; it
is truly a blessing to be where I am. I don't think I could ever put
into words how special this moment is," Wilson said hours before Las
Vegas lost Game 1 of the WNBA semifinal series to Indiana. “My name
is in the history books forever.”
Wilson and former Houston Comets star Cynthia Cooper were the only
ones to win the award unanimously. Cooper was the only other player
to win it in consecutive years, doing so in the first two seasons of
the WNBA (1997, 98).
The 29-year-old Wilson again led the league in scoring (23.4 points
per game) as well as blocked shots (2.3) and helped the Aces win
their last 16 regular-season games, earning the No. 2 seed in the
playoffs. For the second consecutive season, Wilson averaged at
least 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal per
game. She is the only WNBA player to reach these averages in a
season while playing at least 15 games.
“The fact she’s not even 30 yet is crazy,” Las Vegas coach Becky
Hammon said. “She still has a lot left in the tank. There’s still
areas that she knows she can improve in and she will. Every year
she’s coming back and adding something different to her game.
Everyone talks about the Mount Rushmore of basketball faces. ...
There’s no Mount Rushmore, you’re the only one, you're Everest."
The league surprised Wilson on Friday, with WNBA Commissioner Cathy
Engelbert and Wilson's boyfriend, Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo,
presenting the trophy to her at the end of practice.
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Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) celebrates after a play
against the Seattle Storm during the second half of Game 3 in the
first round of the WNBA basketball playoffs Thursday, Sept. 18,
2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
“It hasn't been easy for us, they counted us out,”
an emotional Wilson said to her teammates after receiving the award
Friday. “They wrote us all off, but we showed up every single day.
We worked our (butts) off. ... It has my name on it, but it's all of
us. There is no (award) without each and every last one of you
guys.”
Wilson also was honored as the league's Co-Defensive Player of the
Year, along with Minnesota's Alanna Smith, earning that award
earlier this week for a third time in four seasons.
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (534 points) finished
runner-up for MVP for the second consecutive season. She received 18
first-place votes. Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas was third
(291 points) and garnered the other three top votes. Atlanta Dream
guard Allisha Gray (180) and Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (93
points) rounded out the top five vote-getters.
Players were awarded 10 points for a first-place vote, seven points
for a second-place vote, five points for a third-place vote, three
points for a fourth-place vote and one point for a fifth-place vote.
Wilson was honored as the AP Player of the Year earlier this month.
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