Aja Wilson’s unteachable trait powering Aces’ dominance

PHOENIX — Aces star A’ja Wilson is worthy of the attention that comes with being a four-time league MVP, two-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist at the ripe age of 29.

She welcomes it, too.

Her teammates call her a lovable goofball. Her coach says she’s special. Her family, friends and fans adore her.

But what separates Wilson from the rest of the pack is her ability to inflict fear into opposing teams like an apex predator staring down its prey.

Her 6-foot-4 frame clogging the paint deters the foes from going her way. When she has the ball in her hand, it feels like it’s game over.

Jewell Loyd has had the privilege of playing and working among some of the biggest names in the game. She won championships with Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart and was the mentee of the late Kobe Bryant.

But Wilson’s motor, her daunting presence, is something that can’t be replicated. Her strength, power and finesse is discouraging even to the most valiant rivals.

“It’s like a lion, you know?” Loyd said. “It’s intimidating and it’s something that she just has in her. And she does it with grace, as well. And it’s not arrogance, it’s not trying to get that attention; it’s just who she is.”

The Aces are two wins away from potentially winning their third title in four years, and Wilson, fresh off of winning a record fourth MVP award, is again at the center of it.

Wilson had 21 points and 10 rebounds in the series opener last week — a stat line Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said he’d take “most nights” from the world’s best player. In Game 2 on Sunday, Wilson recorded 24 points and 14 rebounds in another show of her dominance.

With the Aces leading 2-0, the best-of-seven WNBA Finals series is shifting to Phoenix, with Alyssa Thomas & Co. desperate to avoid the sweep and dig themselves out of this gaping hole.

But to do that, the Mercury have to find a way to slow Wilson, who’s shown no signs of relenting until she’s drenched in a cocktail of champagne and beer.

Thomas’ solution?

“We got to make every shot difficult,” she said. “That’s the nature of the beast.”

If only executing that was as simple as saying it aloud.

Tibbetts thought the Mercury did a good job decelerating Wilson in Game 1, but, with Thomas in foul trouble Sunday, Phoenix struggled and Wilson made them pay.

“She’s so good, you can’t give up the easy ones and we did that,” Tibbetts said. “And we will be better in Game 3.”

That’s the hope at least.

For the Aces, though, they relish in having a front-row seat to Wilson’s dominance on any given night.

Chelsea Gray has witnessed it for the past five years.

“It never ceases to amaze me,” she said. “I’m in awe all the time how great she is on both ends of the floor. I’m appreciative of it.”

“I never want to be dull to her greatness,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “There are nights this year where it’s like, ‘Oh man, she had 35 but it just became so normal for her to have 35.’ She’ll do things within the course of the game, two, three times on both ends, and I think she’s probably the only player in the world who can make just ridiculous plays two, three times a game on both ends where … she can get you off your feet.”

Wilson is one of those generational players. The stuff of legend who inspire the next cohort. A person who can be simply referred to on a first- or last-name basis or, even quite simply, with a goat emoji.

She has the Aces tracking toward a stretch of dominance not seen since perhaps Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson ran the league with the now-defunct Houston Comets during the WNBA’s infancy years.

For Las Vegas to be successful in this pursuit, it’ll need Wilson continuing to do things only she seemingly can do.

“She has a feel for the game. She knows when we need a big stop, a big block, when we need that and that’s a skill,” Loyd said. “And so if your best player is down on the floor, there’s no excuse that we can’t either, right? We know the sacrifice that she goes through and all the work she puts in, so you don’t have a reason to take plays off because she doesn’t.”