The Sportsnista | Las Vegas
A’ja wilson’s name keeps finding its way into the WNBA record books.
Another historic scoring season. Another 1,000-point point. Another collection of individual honors. And on Sunday, another Associate Press Player of the Year Award.
Wilson received 15 of 171 place votes for the national media panel that votes on the AP’s weekly WNBA power poll.
Now in its 11 year, the APA awards have become another measuring stick for the league’s best, and once again, Wilson sits at the center of the conversation.
But there is one piece of hardware Wilson and the Aces chase with a different kind of ferocity.
A WNBA championship.
And that chase begins today in Las Vegas.
The No. 3-seeded Aces enter the postseason at 31-13 after closing the regular season with seven consecutive victories. Waiting for them is the No. 6 Indiana Fever, a team that won two of three regular-season meetings against Las Vegas.
Wilson has been the centerpiece of this run, but playoff basketball will require more than another monster stat line from the league’s most decorated player. Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Jewell Loyd and the rest of the Aces will have to deal with an Indiana team capable of putting pressure on Vegas on both ends of the floor.
And this is where the conversation around Wilson changes.
Individual awards tell one part of her story. Championships tell another.
How to Watch: Indiana Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces
When: Sunday, Sept. 27
Where: Michelob ULTRA Arena, Las Vegas
Live: 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET
TV: ABC; KTNV Channel 13 in Las Vegas
Streaming: ESPN app
Matchup: No. 6 Indiana Fever at No. 3 Las Vegas Aces
Series: Game 1, WNBA first round, best-of-three
