NEW YORK — A’JA WILSON HUGGED everyone as tears streamed down her cheeks. As she made her way around the court at Barclays Center, she embraced her coaching staff, her teammates, her college coach, Dawn Staley. In a career where at age 27 she already has so many accomplishments, leading an injury-plagued Las Vegas Aces team to a 70-69 victory Wednesday and a second consecutive WNBA title ranks among her proudest achievements.
A week ago, with the Aces up 2-0 in the WNBA Finals, Wilson winning another championship seemed a sure thing. But after a Game 3 loss to the New York Liberty on Sunday and injuries that forced starters Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes to the bench for Game 4, the Aces were the ones with their backs against the wall.
But when you have a player like Wilson as a franchise star and inspiration to her teammates, you probably always feel like you’re holding all aces.
In Wednesday’s postgame news conference, to which she brought two bottles of champagne and was joined by the entire Aces team, Wilson felt the emotions.
“This is a moment…
