In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green interviews Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson about the emotional fallout from missing the 2023 MVP award and how that disappointment became a catalyst for the Aces' championship run. Wilson describes feeling "hurt to the core" and using the snub to fuel both her personal drive and the team's collective resolve, especially against the narrative that the Aces were a "super team" built by simply adding star players. She recounts the Aces' homegrown evolution—starting with Kelsey Plum, her own rookie year, and later additions like Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young—highlighting the grind, internal meetings, and relentless work ethic that forged their identity. The conversation also touches on coaching transitions from Bill Laimbeer (actually Bill Lambert? but mentioned) to Becky Hammon, whom Green lauds as the league's best coach. A significant portion of the interview focuses on the mentorship and locker‑room presence of veteran Candace Parker, whose advice, practice intensity, and leadership Wilson credits as pivotal during the playoffs, especially when injuries struck key players. Throughout, Wilson emphasizes authenticity, hard work, and the belief that their sustained effort, rather than a superficial "super team" label, underpins their success.
Chapters
And getting into that though, you don't win MVP last year, which I thought you probably should have won MVP last year. How did that feel, number one, and then spark you going into the playoffs to make the run and have this playoff stretch that you did?
Yeah, that hurt. That hurt me to the core, actually. I don't think I've ever felt that low in my career, honestly, because it just, I really felt like, I guess my thing was, OK, if I didn't get it, but that 4th place, like, being 3rd and 4th really—
It's crazy.
Like, that is what did it. Like, not getting it, I was like, man, I got to charge it to the game. You know, I get it, voter fatigue, whatever you want to say. Cool. But being 3rd and 4th was like, absolutely not. Like, it struck my core. I was like, no, they are playing with me at this point. And I mean, it just kind of— it honestly did fuel me. And I think it fueled my team as well. Like, we were just like, now wait a minute. Like, we've been disrespected probably throughout this whole season. They already said super team. They called us a super team. And we're like, we're literally playing on one leg. But OK. And I think it just kind of fueled us in a way that was like, how are we the number one seed and still the underdogs? Like, y'all really just don't believe in us ever. And that's OK because now we have to continue to prove to y'all why we're the number one team. And like, I was excited. Like, I was so ready to get back on court because I was like, all right, it's time to play now. Like, that's out the way. Yeah. Y'all voted, now let's play the game. Let me prove to y'all why I felt like I deserved something better than third and fourth. So yeah, that kind of shook me a little bit.
And speaking of super teams, obviously I've been a part of one.
Yeah.
Which, I mean, I still question whether I was a part of a super team, be that our team was so, homegrown. Like, yes, KD did come on the team, but it was a homegrown team. And I feel like y'all were the same way. Like, yeah, Kelsey may not have been drafted there, or Chelsea may not have been drafted there, but y'all weren't great when y'all got those players.
Right.
And getting those players, y'all then built that to be great. Had Bill Lambert as a coach, then moves on and y'all hire, y'all then go on, To hire who, in my opinion, no questions asked, is the best coach in the WNBA by far, Becky Hammond.
100%.
But this was all, this wasn't like, oh, we plucked this player and now we go to championships. Is that your feeling? Because I know that's how I feel about ours. Is that your feeling on y'all?
Yes, 100%. Like—
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Kelsey, obviously number one draft pick. She played in San Antonio, but then the next year Vegas. Then it was me, then it was Jackie. And like, we were grind— like, I remember my rookie year, we didn't make it to playoffs. Like, we were trying to grind out wins and form a fan base to be like, come watch us. And like, we were— it's funny because we were just talking about, we're like, there were times that we would have a meeting and be like, what are we doing? Like, where do we want to go with this? How do we win? Like, we were questioning how to win. And it just took us all being like, all right, we're going to get in the gym, and we're going to work our hardest. Like, no one's going to outwork us. And so that's why I kind of felt some type of way when they kept calling us a super team, because I'm like, we didn't just go pick everybody and was like, make it work. Like, this was something that we were building. And obviously, we just got great additions that wanted to come.
Mm-hmm.
And it's funny how it all, at the end, it really came down to me, Chelsea, and Jackie. Like, it's like— and that was supposed to prove to everybody, like, this was it. The whole time, this was it. And that's the part that I was so happy for. And that was, like, probably why the second championship was just that much greater than the first one. Because I'm like, a lot of y'all, one, wanted us to lose, but two, could not believe that we really did it. With our core that we've been having since day one. And like that right there, I definitely feel the same way. 'Cause I'm like, we literally have been doing the same thing we've been doing every year. Like same thing. And we just so happen to be really good 'cause we just put the work in. But yeah, if that's the super team, then okay. But no, they're acting like we just were like going to different gyms and be like, yeah, we want her, we want her, we want her. Okay, play. No.
No, I definitely, I definitely thought it was a lot sweeter As you may or may not know, I'm a huge Candace Parker fan. Has been since watching her in the dunk contest in high school. And then to Tennessee, on through WNBA with the Sparks, then the Sky, and now her being with the Aces. But I thought it was a lot to say for number one, CP getting hurt early in the year and missing a lot of the year. Yeah. But then at the very end, see Draymond Green getting hurt. And like you said, it boiling down to just y'all having to close it out with kind of what you started with.
Yep.
And it shut all the naysayers up. You know how I viewed that? I viewed that, and now, you know, CP is my teammate, Chris Paul. But years ago, I think it was 2018, if I'm not mistaken, KD got hurt. I mean, CP, no, we were playing the Houston Rockets and CP gets hurt.
Oh.
And when CP got hurt, they like, "Ah, if CP didn't get hurt, y'all was done." And then KD got hurt and we're like, "All right, now we're faced with the same thing. We're at a deficit, KD's out, and now it's just us three." And we came back and won. And so to me, that was one of the sweetest series to win. Because everything y'all said about us, you cried to KD in the car, y'all, you couldn't do this, y'all couldn't do that, y'all had to. And it boiled back down to us having to get it done. And it made it all the more sweeter for me.
Yes.
So, so I definitely get that. But for you, having a player like Candace Parker around who's done it at the level that she's done it at for so many years, what benefit was that to you? And just being able to then team up with her and kind of pluck at some of that knowledge that she has.
Oh, it was incredible. Like, I've never was so excited just to have a person like Candace in our locker room, just to pick her brain. I mean, it's just amazing just to compete against her in practice when we could, and then just to have her constantly just being in my ear. And I remember, like, before we went into the New York series, we sat down and I was just like, "How do we do this? Like, how do I do this as a person that the light is beaming on? How do I do this?" And she was like, be you. And it's so simple. And I knew exactly what she meant. I was like, I can't do anything different. Can't force anything. I just have to go out there and be me. And my team will follow. But just having her encouraging words on the sidelines, just still just practicing with her. And I hate— like, when she got hurt, we were just right in the groove too. We were like, dang. But it was just tons of fun just to play along with somebody that's— she's my GOAT. Yeah. Hall of Famer, hands down. So just to share a locker room with her and just her mind, man, it was a lot of fun just to have her around. And I'm super excited just to see kind of what her future holds. Candace is a hooper. She's a hooper and a trooper through and through. And I'm so glad that I can be able to just be a part of her journey because we had a lot of fun. We brought out the youth a little bit out of her. It was a lot of fun.
