Las Vegas Aces’ forward A’Ja Wilson is currently in her ninth season in the WNBA and has won almost every accolade that the league has to offer. She is a four-time WNBA MVP, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, a three-time WNBA champion, and a two-time Finals MVP, but recently revealed what she would have known as a rookie back in 2018.
“It seems like she’s breaking a record every day, so you start to lose track of them,” Hammon said in the postgame media availability, per team video. “Nothing surprises me with that woman. I mean, tonight she has nine dimes. She just continues to get better.”
“There’s just really not any offensive area that she can’t do,” Hammon added later in the postgame media availability. “She can put the ball on the floor, she can get to her middy, she can put her back to the basket, she can step out, shoot threes, she shoots free throws…Her expansion of her offensive floor game, I think, has just made her virtually unguardable.”
When speaking with Women’s Health Magazine recently, Wilson talked about being a legend in the game of basketball.
“I'm always shook, because I never would've imagined me even being in that conversation,” she says. “So when people say that, it's blessed. I don't take it for granted. It is a little weird, but it's a good weird.”
In Wilson’s eyes, what defines your legacy is winning, and the more you win, the more your legacy grows.
“The more you win, the more you are more of a legend,” she says. “You’ve got to win a lot to be a legend, in my eyes.”
However, the knowledge that she wishes she would have known back in 2018 is not pushing yourself until the wheels come off, but knowing when to rest and recover along the way. She now knows that taking care of your body is something that you must have in your daily routine as well.
“[I’m] prioritizing slowing down and running my race at my own pace,” she says. “Really just coming into myself.”
Per Women’s Health, Wilson loves to take naps and considers herself in the All-WNBA category for that award as well.
During a 2018 interview with Tim Ferriss, LeBron James talked about trying to get eight hours of sleep every day to help your body recover.
"There's nothing more important than optimal REM sleep," James pointed out. "And that's exactly what we're talking about right now. That's the best way for your body to physically and emotionally be able to recover and get backto as close to 100 percent as possible. Now, will you wake up and feel 100 percent? There are some days you don't. So some days you feel better than others. But the more and more and more time that you get those eight – if you can get nine, that's amazing. Sometimes, I even get 10 hours of sleep."
As for Wilson, this routine has helped her withstand the grind that comes with the WNBA season, and she's hoping she can add another WNBA Championship Trophy to her resume later this year.
