The Tamesis
They bonded, and Staley and Wilson still talk regularly. “I sent an inspiring text message
information. Sometimes they need a little scrutiny,” Staley said. “But she’s a thinker and a perfectionist. She wants the work she puts in
There are results. “
Under Staley, Wilson led the Gamecocks to a national championship — the first in school history — and was a three-time All-American. Her dominance in college has significantly raised the program’s recruiting profile, and the Gamecocks are now a perennial Final Four contender. (In 2021, when Wilson was just 24, the school erected a statue in her honor—on a campus in the segregated South that Wilson’s grandmother was unable to visit as a child.)
Wilson entered the WNBA draft in 2018. The unproven Las Vegas Aces — a team that had just moved from San Antonio after finishing last in the league — had the No. 1 pick, and with Wilson’s help, they quickly turned their fortunes around. The team has won three league titles over the past four seasons, and Wilson has amassed enough hardware of his own to stock a slot machine: four MVPs and three Defensive Player of the Year awards, not to mention two Olympic gold medals as a member of Team USA.
But for someone like Wilson, who suffers from anxiety and self-doubt, the relentless WNBA season (44 games in four months) can be overwhelming. A month into the season, Wilson’s team is faltering and the pressure is on her shoulders. During a break in an early game, when Wilson was having a bad shot, Harmon walked onto the court and just gave her a hug: “I could feel the weight,” Harmon recalled. The Aces bottomed out in early August when they lost to the Minnesota Lynx by 53 points. “I’ve never had such a bad loss in my life,” Wilson said with a grimace, “and it was on national television.”
The beating triggered something. “A’ja is a person who looks, sounds, and feels strong,” Staley said. “When they go through their lowest point, they don’t Feel To her. So she took action. And it wasn’t just her. Wilson’s older teammates — including Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd, all of whom already had multiple championships under their belts — went an incredible 25-3 in the playoffs. Wilson hit the game-winning shot in the final and was named the series MVP.
After the celebration, Wilson was exhausted. “Looking out there, everyone is like, ‘Oh, your shot is so good! You won a championship, you should be on top of the world!'” Wilson said. “I said, ‘Yeah, for that. moment.‘” Around Thanksgiving, the reality of her experience hit her: “I finally understood the emotional toll it took on me, the mental toll and the physical toll it took. “
She had suffered losses before. After the Aces were swept by the Seattle Storm in the 2020 Grand Final, Wilson suffered a panic attack while on vacation with his parents. She began going to therapy and working on “protecting her own peace,” principles Staley instilled in her in college—focusing on people and spiritual practices that helped keep her grounded. “She wasn’t a Bible-thumper,” Roscoe said, but “Aja’s faith was very deep.”
