LAS VEGAS — A’ja Wilson hurled herself into a huddle of her excited teammates once the final buzzer sounded in their Game 4 road win over the Phoenix Mercury, signaling the completion of a 2025 WNBA Finals sweep for the Aces’ third championship win in four years.

As the celebratory scene unfolded, it was hard to ignore a sneaky sense of irony in the fact that she and the dynastic Aces have never won a league title on their home court.

Michelob Ultra Arena is nicknamed “The House.” And it’s one that Wilson, the league’s first ever four-time MVP, built brick by brick.

Her dedication to the legacy she’s constructed is why she’s likely to stay put despite being an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

The 29-year-old center’s reign began in 2018 when the newly relocated Aces made the easy decision to draft her with the No. 1 overall selection out of South Carolina, marking the start of a new chapter in Las Vegas. In eight seasons with Wilson as the face of the franchise, the Aces have secured attendance and ticket sales records to pair with the trophies.

Three of Wilson’s MVP awards and all of the team’s WNBA titles came after owner Mark Davis bought the team from MGM Resorts International for $2 million in 2021. The franchise was estimated to be worth $310 million this year, and Davis had no shortage of words to describe Wilson’s role in his investment increasing 15,400% in value.

“To have her on this franchise, I would put it in the terms of a Michael Jordan. I’d put it in the terms of (Wayne) Gretzky, and any other player that totally dominated their sport in their day. There’s no doubt that she’s the greatest player in the game,” Davis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “She’s a champion, both on the court and off it, and it’s evident in everything that she does.”

‘This culture that we built’

It’s impossible to drive near Michelob Ultra Arena without seeing Wilson’s image. She palms two basketballs and stares you down as her wingspan reaches each end of Allegiant Stadium. A look in the opposite direction reveals a Nike advertisement on Mandalay Bay’s largest digital billboard that touts Wilson’s “MVP residency” and displays a close-up of her shooting form.

There’s plenty more Wilson inside the 12,000-seat sports and entertainment venue.

During warmups, eager fans wear Wilson’s signature Nike A’Ones while they watch her hit the court to the soundtrack of Beyoncé and various female rappers. The music is tailored to Wilson’s taste, according to DJ Joe Green, who has handled the Aces’ in-arena turntables for the last six years.

“I’ve seen when we had 3,000 fans before we had 10,000 fans,” Green said. “I think (Wilson’s) personality and character have a lot to do with that. Who she is as a person in addition to her level of skill, I think is a lot of what makes people love her.”

Wilson’s face is the first to appear in the Aces’ hype video on the jumbotron before Aces players are announced.

Her appearance is timed with BigXthaPlug rapping “safe to say I’m the biggest, the largest” — apt lyrics to summarize her importance to the franchise.

She never imagined she would raise the Aces to such staggering heights when she was drafted by former Aces president of basketball operations and coach Bill Laimbeer, however.

“I didn’t see this coming. I honestly didn’t,” Wilson said. “I was part of a new franchise from top to bottom. I was just a kid that was just trying to do the right thing and play the right way, and Bill Laimbeer allowed me to lead a team.”

Aces guard Jackie Young was drafted by the Aces with another No. 1 overall pick a year after Wilson in 2019, forming the start of a duo that they were instructed to cherish and keep together.

Wilson won her first MVP and led the Aces to their first finals during the 2020 COVID “bubble” season, but got swept as the Seattle Storm won the championship.

Now joined by point guard Chelsea Gray in the 2021 semifinals, Wilson and the Aces were a layup short from forcing overtime in a win-or-go-home Game 5 against the Mercury. That attempt was swatted by Brittney Griner, and the Aces were back to the drawing board again.

But the Aces had something to fall back on: a lesson Wilson learned from South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and prioritized from her rookie year on.

“When you create a culture, that’s where your legacy stands when you leave,” Wilson recalled learning in college. “Looking back (to my start with the Aces), I’m so happy that we were able to sustain this culture that we built.”

Aces coach Becky Hammon took notice of that culture when she was hired to replace Laimbeer at the end of 2021. She knew she was “getting handed a really, really great player,” but was surprised by what drove it all.

“You show me who you are, you don’t just talk about it,” Hammon said. “Once I got to be around (Wilson), it was her personhood and her work ethic. After interacting with her and seeing her habits and what she’s really about — what really makes her tick — I’m like, ‘This girl can be the greatest to ever play the game. And she will be.’”

‘A’ja loves Vegas’

Wilson’s presence permeates so widely through Las Vegas that it even helps the UNLV women’s basketball team, which will wear the A’Ones next season.

“Whether it’s recruiting or just our own team, (players) watch them, they go to the games,” Lady Rebels coach Lindy La Rocque said. “There’s no better example than A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young of how to be great pros, how to be great people, how to be in the community.”

Starting with the A’ja Wilson Foundation for children struggling with dyslexia and bullying, Wilson makes various efforts to give back to Las Vegas.

“A’ja probably loves Vegas — and what (the city’s) people have poured into her — more than they would ever know,” Wilson’s mom, Eva Rakes Wilson, said. “Everyone has embraced her. Being from South Carolina, A’ja is out here in Vegas by herself. So for her to be able to come here and they really welcome her and wrap their arms around her — it means a lot.”

Maybe that’s why Wilson feels like she and the Aces aren’t close to accomplishing their potential.

“I feel like we have so much that we can do and so much to give,” Wilson said. “We’re obviously so honored to bring championships to Las Vegas, but we still have a lot more work that we’re willing to put towards the city and towards our team and our franchise.

Hammon is counting on it, even if she won’t see much of Wilson this offseason.

“At this point, she is in Miami most of the time, doing her work,” Hammon said. “But I’ll tell you this, the work shows up every summer. So you know she’s doing it. She comes back better every year.”

It’s no secret that Wilson’s training city of choice is thanks to her boyfriend, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, who recently relished the fact that Wilson joined Bill Russell as the only players in WNBA or NBA history to win three MVPs and three championships in a four-season span this year.

“You’re blessed to see somebody have that much success,” Adebayo told reporters. “Somebody who they compare to Bill Russell.”

More winning, more money?

Wilson drew yet another comparison to an NBA legend in the news conference following the Aces’ title-clinching 97-86 win at PHX Arena.

“They’re saying you’re the MJ of the WNBA,” a reporter told Wilson. “How do you feel about that?”

Her heroics in the Aces’ tumultuous pursuit of their latest title made her the first player in WNBA and NBA history to win MVP, defensive player of the year, finals MVP and a scoring title in one year. Still, she found a humble answer.

“I still got a little bit more winning to do before you put me in that conversation with him,” she said, despite all of her accolades and the champagne.

The Aces don’t have to wonder whether she’ll do the rest of her winning with them. She’s said on multiple occasions that her heart is with the organization that drafted her, an idea that she never strayed from even in the lowest moments of this season.

Yet, somehow, Wilson isn’t even the highest paid player on her team. She earned $200,000 this past season while guard Jewell Loyd brought her $249,000 supermax contract along with her when she was traded to the Aces from the Seattle Storm.

Although Wilson is overdue for a raise, her selflessness has helped the Aces build its championship rosters. It’s yet another way she’s put the organization on her back.

“I’m the first one that would take a sacrifice for this team. If it means we can hang up banners and we can work towards something big, I’m taking that pay cut. I’m going to make that sacrifice. We’re going to move on,” Wilson said. “Because I guarantee you, we’re going to try to get something good out of it.”

But the entirety of the league has a larger issue: fraught Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations that led to overwhelming booing as WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert presented the Aces with their new hardware.

The current CBA expires on Oct. 31, and fans are well aware that the league and its players don’t seem aligned enough to avoid a potential lockout next season.

Part of the issue is that players are aware of expensive sticker prices on expansion teams and a massive media rights deal that was announced last year and valued at about $2.2 billion.

Meanwhile, they reportedly can’t get the league to agree to increase the supermax salary to $850,000.

“I’m going to get what I deserve,” Wilson said. “And I think that is my biggest thing when it comes to this CBA negotiation: making sure that we know our worth. You can’t tell me that I can look at these numbers and I see this, but then when you come back with a proposal, it doesn’t meet the standards. So for us, it’s just gonna be about honestly standing on business and not shaking and not settling for low-hanging fruit.”

In a perfect world, the players and league will reach an agreement that will allow Wilson to return next season to “The House” she built without any interruption. She’ll just be richer. And better.

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