A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart's rivalry goes back to college, UConn versus South Carolina, but Wilson says there's no actual beef between them. She watches Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese like film study, preparing for the next generation of WNBA players.
Chapters
You yourself kind of have this rivalry with Breanna Stewart of, you know, championship, MVPs, the whole nine. She's won in college, you've won in college. Like the list goes on and on and there's kind of a little rivalry. How do you view that rivalry amongst the two of y'all? I love it.
Yeah, I love it. Stewie and I have been playing against each other for a long, long time. And it's crazy to think that we kind of grew up with this little rivalry. But at the same time, just, we're still cool. I feel like that's what makes it that much better. 'Cause we know it's like, it's not beef. Like media can make it beef, anybody can make it beef, but it's not beef. And it's like, when you see us, we're making each other better every possession, every single possession. I'm pretty sure if you ask Stewie, what's Asia's scout? She could read it like that. And if you ask, I'm like, yeah, I got you. And I think that's kind of what our game and our league needs. It kind of puts people— Mm-hmm. Pick a side and go for it and enjoy it and watch these two grow. And to see, and it's crazy just to see how the league is kind of in our hands at this point. 'Cause I'm like, little Stewie and Asia at UConn and South Carolina never would've imagined we'll be in this space now. But it's been tons of fun just growing alongside Stewie and just getting better. I feel like she makes me better every single time we play against each other. But at the same time, we've been cool since we played together for USA. And everywhere in between. But it is— it's a lot of fun. And we— sometimes I feel like every game, we just kind of look at each other and just smile aloud because we're like, look at us. Look what we did. Like, dang. But Stewie, she killed— I know they talk a lot about, like, college girls now and, like, NIL. But one place I'm going to always give Stewie is her respect is in college. That girl has 4 national championships. And you can never take those away from her. And I get they talking about Angel. I get they talking about Caitlin. I get they talking about South Carolina's team. But the things she did in college does not need to go unrecognized. So yes, Stewie, I'mma give you props there because I see they be playing around with this whole who's the best collegiate— nah, Stewie got that 100%. But it's kind of cool just to watch us just grow together from those moments. So yeah, I love the rivalry. I feel like we circle that game every time because we have no choice because we're like, we get to see each other again. So yeah.
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That's fire. You just mentioned, you just mentioned Caitlin and you just mentioned Angel Reese, both two incredibly good players at the collegiate level. Obviously this year soon will be making that jump to the NBA. WNBAs, excuse me, more than likely. But when I watch some of these younger guys, when I'm watching college or you watching some of the overseas guys come over, when I'm watching them, I'm watching them like, ah, like that's cool. Like that kid's good. I'm also watching them like, all right, let me figure out his tendencies now. So when he come in this league, the first time I play him, I can destroy him because I'm only gonna get older. And I need to instill some type of doubt and fear in you while you're young so that when you see me as I age, you know, I, yeah, I'm, there's just, I have to be a little unsure of myself. When y'all are watching like Caitlin Clark and specific at your position, Angel Reese, who, what I like most about Angel is she gonna talk to you about what she gonna do to you and then she's actually gonna do it and she gonna make sure you hear all of it.
Are you watching her sometimes? Yeah.
Sometimes like, "All right, like I see you, shorty, but just know you gotta come here soon." Or are you just watching it like, "Oh, I'm just enjoying the game." I mean, sometimes I really just watch it to enjoy it, but then sometimes obviously the player side of me is kind of like, I watch because I'm watching as if I'm watching film because clearly they're gonna be at the next level. So I do kind of sometimes catch myself. I'm like, "Ooh, okay, bet, I got you." And I'm like, "Oh no, let me enjoy the game. Go women's sports." Like the competitor in me just can't— live without a film session sometimes. I don't watch it to enjoy it, but sometimes I find myself like, all right, bet. She liked that move? Bet. I got it. Because like you said, I'm getting older. So I'm like, all right, I got to start playing smarter a little bit. And let me try to figure it out before they kind of get ahead of the game. And I'm pretty sure they did it to me when I was a rookie. So I don't feel too bad. I'm like, yeah, no, you did the same.
