Fans Pour Cold Water on A’ja Wilson’s WNBA MVP Candidacy

Leading the WNBA in scoring (27.1 points per game) and ranking second in rebounding (11.7 per game), many expected Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson to run away with the league MVP award.

However, following Tuesday’s 93-90 loss to the Dallas Wings, fans took to social media to point out some of Wilson’s best games have come in Aces losses, calling into question the legitimacy of her MVP candidacy.

The Aces cruised into the Olympic break as one of the hottest teams in the WNBA. They won four of their last five games and 10 of their last 12 before their monthslong hiatus. Now, they’ve lost four of their first six games back and Wilson is feeling the heat.

Wilson is averaging nearly 10 points per game more than the team’s second-leading scorer Kelsey Plum (17.6) and 6.6 rebounds per game more than the next-closest player Kiah Stokes (5.1).

She’s also averaging 4.3 points per game and 2.2 rebounds per game more this year than she did last year, which was her career-best season.

As the face of the Aces, Wilson (-3,000 odds) will presumably shoulder more of the blame in losses, but it would take a serious late-season run from either Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (+3,700) or Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark (+6,000), who have the second- and third-best MVP odds, respectively, to take the award away from her.