In her fourth Finals appearance in six years with the Las Vegas Aces, A’ja Wilson continues to seek ways to elevate her game. In the best-of-five series against the Phoenix Mercury, Wilson’s motivation lies in her Finals rematch with Alyssa Thomas.
This is the second time Wilson and Thomas will face each other in the Finals. The other matchup was in 2022, when Thomas was a member of the Connecticut Sun. The Aces won the title in a sweep. In that series, Thomas was the most effective defender on Wilson. She limited Wilson, the league’s two-time MVP at the time, to 6 of 15 shots (40%) as the primary defender, while Wilson shot 59% against all other defenders. The duo also faced off in the 2020 semifinals, when Las Vegas defeated Connecticut in five games. A lot has changed since then. Wilson is coming off a regular season that earned her the fourth MVP award of her career and led the Aces from a .500 record at the end of July to second place before the postseason. Wilson led the league in scoring (23.4 points per game) and blocks (2.3), and was second in rebounds (10.2). A’ja is the ultimate competitor. She’s doing a lot of things that many players could never do. Her resume speaks for itself. I think when you have players like that, it constantly makes you want to evolve and improve your game. It elevates my game in a way. Every year, I try to come back and contribute more. This year, in her twelfth season in the WNBA, Thomas added more facilitation to her repertoire. Although she had handled the ball before, in her first season with the Mercury she has become a full-time point guard. For that reason, Wilson doesn’t consider Thomas a typical post player. He listed a list of attributes that distinguish Thomas: her facilitation, involving her teammates, and the ability to “analyze the game”.It’s always fun to compete against Thomas. He helps me elevate myself, whether in defensive schemes, personnel management, or simply taking everything to another level in every game. We’re going to play our best basketball.
A’ja Wilson
The Aces won the regular season matchup 3-1, but both teams say they can’t use those games to anticipate how this series will be.I don’t get the opportunity to defend that every day. The way she sees the game, her vision, and the way she relays it to her teammates, it’s something that adds and brings to this game in that position that I don’t see every night.
A’ja Wilson
Playoff basketball, man, is a different beast. It’s totally different from the regular season. Someone’s playbook can be completely different. Maybe it’s a little scouting, a little nuggets, but it’s a whole new season. We try to focus on playoff basketball.
Chelsea Gray
