Aces wear jerseys to support A'ja Wilson who finished 2nd for Defensive Player of the Year

NEW YORK (AP) — The entire Las Vegas Aces team wore A’ja Wilson jerseys to the opening game of their series with New York in support of their teammate, who they felt deserved the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

Wilson, who won the award the previous two years, finished second behind Napheesa Collier when it was announced Sunday.

Tiffany Hayes came up with the idea for the jerseys. The team also wore pants designed by Hayes, who is up for the league’s Sixth Woman of the Year award.

“She’s our leader, she’s always doing stuff for us, she’s always taking care of us so it just came to mind,” Hayes said. “Like why not? Why can’t we do something for her that’s really fun and really representative of our team. So just came up with the jersey thing and then just to add on, with my brand on the side.”

Wilson, who was the league’s unanimous MVP, averaged 2.6 blocks and 1.8 steals for the Aces and once again was key to their defense.

“If you have to go down the rabbit hole of analytics to put somebody in the same conversation, I think you have your answer to the question,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said of Wilson not winning. “(Collier) is a great defensive player and I’m not saying that. I’m just saying A’ja, if you watch the games, her blocks and the way she protects the rim. They’re dominant physically like a dunk in men’s basketball.”

Hammon went on to say that there are players in the WNBA that she tries to avoid when running plays, mentioning Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas.

“I don’t want them anywhere near the play,” she said. “I don’t want them near the play when I’m drawing it up.”