At the end of the 2023 WNBA season, after the Las Vegas Aces captured their second consecutive title and A’ja Wilson earned Finals MVP, Wilson had a message.
“Whoever you are who voted me fourth (for MVP), thank you. Thank you very much,” Wilson said during the team’s championship rally. “I want to say I appreciate you, because that just means I have a lot more work to do.”
While the 2024 Aces have disappointed relative to expectations, that is not the case with Wilson. Just as she promised last October, Wilson returned an improved player in her seventh WNBA season.
A two-time MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, Wilson is now the record holder for most points in a single season. Against the Indiana Fever – and rookie Caitlin Clark, who could challenge those numbers in the not-so-distant future – Wilson scored her 941st point in the second quarter, breaking Jewell Loyd’s single-season record of 939 set in 2023.
941 buckets in 2024 and counting…
Most points scored in a WNBA season belongs to A’JA WILSON #WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/ysR3DWubVz
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 11, 2024
Many WNBA single-season records have been broken in the past two years since the regular season was expanded to 40 games. When the league debuted in 1997, the season lasted 28 games. The next year 30, and the year after that 32, lasting through 2002. The regular season lasted 34 games from 2003 to 2019, during which time Diana Taurasi set the scoring standard that lasted until last season.
Still, Wilson’s stats don’t require the extra games to break any records. Through 34 games, Wilson had 929 points, more than anyone in league history, comfortably ahead of Taurasi’s 860 in 2006. Wilson averaged 27.3 points entering Wednesday’s game.
She needs just 83 points over the last five games to post the highest scoring average in a WNBA season, surpassing Taurasi’s mark of 25.3.
In addition to points, Wilson also leads the league in defensive rebounds, blocks, turnover percentage and win shares. It was a tour de force for the runaway MVP favorite.
“I don’t want it to ever be lost sight of how good (A’ja) is,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said before the Fever game. “She just does it all. She’s in the middle of a run and sometimes I want to shake her and say, do you know how good you are? But then I don’t want to shake her because I don’t want to wake her up. She can just stay in whatever zone she is in.”
That zone put Wilson in exalted historical company. Throughout seven seasons of her career, Wilson also threatened Taurasi’s reputation as the league’s all-time leading scorer. She has a better scoring average at this age (20.9 vs. 20.7), and the WNBA’s expanded schedule allows Wilson to reach Taurasi’s total scoring output in fewer seasons.
For now, Wilson and the Aces only have their sights set on a third title. But the all-time great has no choice but to set individual records.
Required reading
(Photo: Justin Casterline/NBAE via Getty Images)