A’Ja Wilson on her goals for the future: “I want to be in a legend category”
Three other teammates of hers on the U.S. team also play for the Las Vegas Aces: Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. Two other Aces will also be in Paris: Megan Gustafson will play for Spain, while Tiffany Hayes qualified to play for Azerbaijan in 3×3. They lead WNBA teams in Olympic representation.
“We’re Olympians. We’re great at what we do and for our respective teams. And we showcase that every single day. We show up to be the best professionals that we could be. But we’re also great at putting the basketball in the hoop,” Wilson said.
Wilson often makes statements with her “tunnel fits,” the outfits she wears into games. Earlier this year, she announced she had a shoe deal with Nike using her tunnel fit. She also often wears a gold necklace with the Olympic rings hung from it, and she said she’s proud to show that she’s an Olympian.
“It’s not something people do every single day, and it’s something that it’s like, they may not know a lot of different players,” Wilson said. “They may not know what team I play for, but when you’re talking about Olympian, they instantly know that you’re great at something because you wouldn’t be on that team if you weren’t. So I kind of rep it. My parents gave it to me. I won my first gold medal on my birthday, so that was my gift. So I wear it a lot. But it’s something that I definitely wear that’s a part of me. And I love it, and it’s an honor to be an Olympian.”
Wilson will turn 28 while she’s in Paris. She already has a long list of awards and honors, but she wants to be known for more than what she won.
“I think I want to be in a legend category. I want to be something that people are just like, wow, she was really good at basketball player but damn, she was just a great person. She was everywhere. We see her every moment in history books and stat sheets, like she was everywhere for her team. And that’s something that I continue to strive for because it’s not easy. It’s really, really hard to be on all the time, for eleven other minds on the court, and you still have to be great within yourself. They make it easy by taking a lot of pressure off me, but that’s something that I definitely want people to always remember,” Wilson said.
Watch A’ja Wilson and Team USA in the Olympic women’s basketball tournament starting July 29.