WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson Knows This Season Won't Be the Same

Ever wonder what your favorite athlete does when they just aren't playing very well? Do they watch a Will Ferrell comedy? Play Mario Kart with their kids? Suffer a fit of deep, existential angst? Welcome to How I Take a Loss.

For our latest edition, we talked to Las Vegas Aces superstar, A'ja Wilson, whose career is skewing very much in the opposite the purposes of this column. Wilson is the reigning WNBA MVP, has her sights set on repeating her team's first-ever championship, and is a major pioneer of the Vegas sports boom. Back in March, Wilson starred in an AT&T campaign called "Madness Loves Company," where she supported equity in sports by calling on fans to fill out women's and men's brackets. So, of course—in anticipation of the WNBA season's kickoff next week—we caught up with Wilson to see if she has any fears and/or anxieties about her title defense. (Spoiler: she does. But it's nothing a little Chris Tucker movie can't fix.)

ESQUIRE: You’ve said a lot about how much Dawn Staley’s mentorship has meant to you—especially one time, at South Carolina, when she pulled you out of a scrimmage. What keeps bringing you back to that moment?

A'JA WILSON: At a young age, I didn't really understand exactly where she was going with her teaching. But as I got older, I understood the message a hundred percent. I can't blend in, ever. Because if I'm blending in, that means that I'm hurting my team. In the beginning, when she was doing all that, I was like, Lady, please be quiet. You're just trying to get under my skin and I'm not going to let you. But now I fully understand that I can't blend in. I can't be average. No one expects me to be that way.

It's hard to learn how to receive criticism.

It's hard because at a young age, you want to be perfect—and you want everything to just mesh together. You can think that you can do no wrong. [Mentors] tell you, “Absolutely not. That is not who you are. You're better than this.” That's how I use constructive criticism, as a way of showing that I'm better than what I may seem like. Sometimes, I'm in my own way. I have to let people come in and tell me things that I need to hear, and not necessarily things that I want to hear. That's Coach Staley.

What do you think will be the hardest part of defending a title?

When you win, you're like, OK, we got to do everything we did last year. That's going to be the hardest thing—understanding that it's a different journey. I've always remembered what Bill Laimbeer said: "If you win a championship—the feeling—it's like you have a secret key." Going from someone that hasn't had one to having one, I get it. You know what needs to be said in the locker rooms. You know how much it takes. It's not going to be like, OK, I got to make my hair the same way it was and I got to have my shoes tied. That's going to be the hardest for us—understanding that it's not going to look the same, but you can accomplish it.

So, I never get a satisfying answer to this question, and I’m hoping you’ll help—when you get home after a bad game, is there anything that actually takes your mind off of it?

I love Rush Hour 3, so I'll turn that on. That's my happy movie. I can quote it. It takes my attention away from everything. I have the 24-hour rule: I give myself 24 hours and then I just wipe it away.

I saw Chris Tucker at the Salt Lake City airport after NBA All-Star Weekend. Fans were talking to him. I was just like, Oh, I would kill to go over there, but I won't.

I literally got a picture with him. I was telling one of my friends, "If I meet Chris Tucker in Utah, I'm going to lose my mind." And then I'm sitting there, courtside, and he comes up next to me. I was just telling myself, Don't quote Rush Hour! Don't be that person! Just take a picture. Keep it moving. That's what I did. I bit my tongue. It was a highlight.

Let’s pivot to something broad—you can take it wherever you want. At this very moment, where do you feel like we are, mental health-wise, in sports?

It's slowly being seen more and talked about more, which is appreciated a lot. Especially with this new wave of kids that are coming in with NIL. So many different things can really hurt you mentally. It shouldn't be secretive. It shouldn't have to be like, Well, if you need help, we have somebody. That's something that should already be in those conversations, freshman year in college or rookie orientation—not like, wait till it gets really, really bad and then we can help you… It comes on us as professional athletes to continue to talk about it and be open about it. And it's hard. It really is hard. I hate when people get in my privacy or in my mind, but at the same time, if me talking it out helps the next person, I'm down for it.

You mentioned NIL—do you think that makes life harder for young athletes, even if they do have an opportunity to earn money?

It's a lot to juggle. A lot of people don't understand that we're talking about 16-, 17-year-olds. They're not full of grown-ups. If you told 16-year-old A’ja she needs an agent in college, she would be like, “No, I don't. Because I'm just going to class and I'm going to the gym." But now you have to factor that in. And yes, it's a great thing that they can start their own brand, but at the same time, it kind of sucks that normalcy out of them. You don't get those years back.

I’m sure the culture around the transfer portal adds to that. Do I stay or do I go?

That is a toll on your mental. Sometimes, you could lose what got you there—which was you. You played your game. You go into class. Those things got you to that point. Never lose sight of that. So I try to encourage everybody to find somebody to talk to with a non-biased ear. Let it out and let them know, "Hey, I'm struggling," or "Hey, I'm doing really well," or "Hey, I'm maintaining."

Before we go—did you see that Giannis said you’re his WNBA comp?

I can see that. That's not too far off. Honestly. I'm not taking off from the free throw line. I definitely could see the comparison—and just the things that he's done up there with Milwaukee, reeling people in and people going to play alongside him. He's handled it with a lot of grace.

Is there anything I missed?

My biggest thing would just be: I'm a big celebrate the small wins, but dissect my Ls person. That's what makes me who I am. If I can dissect those Ls and turn them into lessons in real life—where did I go wrong, how can I fix it?—it helps me celebrate those big wins even more. I like to really get my magnifying glasses out and be like, All right, what's up? Because I know I do not want it to happen again. I'm a perfectionist.

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