A’ja Wilson’s Path to GOAT Status Hinges on One Factor, Reveals Sue Bird

Sep 25, 2024 | 11:53 AM EDT

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The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word GOAT, aka Greatest of All Time, as a term to refer to or describe the person who has performed better than anyone else ever, especially in a sport. Women’s basketball has many such names. While most of them are now retired, the 2024 MVP A’ja Wilson is already in GOAT conversations. To be noted, she’s only 28 years old and is a seven-year veteran in the W. And while fans would readily ascribe to her this ultimate status, former pro Sue Bird has one factor in mind before she calls Wilson one of the best in the business.

In the latest episode of ‘A Touch More’ with her partner Megan Rapinoe, Bird discusses, “It’s just to me a word. I don’t get caught up in it. But if you are talking about building a resume that will exist among the greatest of all time, legit legit, and one day it could be the talking heads debating between this player or that player, A’ja will 1000% be in those conversations.”

This season, the Las Vegas Aces center joined Sheryl Swoopes, Lauren Jackson, and Lisa Leslie as only the 4th player with 3 MVPs, and only the second player to have a unanimous voting. Being the first W player to reach the 1000-scoring mark in a single season will do that. But as Bird says, “I do think she has the resume already to be considered in that top. So she would be in a Mount Rushmore, in a top 5, that kind of a thing. She’s definitely of GOAT status.”

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“So maybe that’s where I wanna go – before your career is done, I can’t really call you a GOAT. But there are some people that are like pending GOATs and she’s one of them,” Bird continues. It’s a huge accomplishment to have another GOAT like Sue Bird say that in the first place, but she’s not the only one.

Wilson has been in this conversation since last year, with the likes of Stephen Curry and LeBron James also lauding her achievements. From her college days to Rookie of the Year in 2018 to her first MVP in 2020, then in 2022, and now for the third time in 2024, A’ja Wilson looks primed to change the meaning of what it is to be a basketball player in the WNBA.

In a previous conversation, the Aces’ first overall pick in 2018 revealed the same thoughts as Sue Bird. “I would love to have my name mentioned in conversations when you’re talking about the greatest women’s basketball player ever to play. But in my eyes, I still have a lot more I have to do to even be in that conversation,” Wilson said to Boardroom‘s Vinciane Ngomsi in May.

She would rather describe herself as a “GOAT-in-Training”, and even her coach puts her a level above the rest!

Becky Hammon, who played in the W’s golden era, bestows a special title on A’ja Wilson

Drafted in 1999 by the New York Liberty, Becky Hammon joined the W just after its conception. She played with the likes of Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, and even Sue Bird, alongside playing in other leagues. Safe to say, the LV Aces’ head coach has seen some raw talent in her day, as well as in the years since she’s retired. But none of them have held a candle to A’ja Wilson.

“I played against all the GOATs,” said Hammon in July. “Imma put it out there. This is going to be the GOAT of the GOATs. She’s that good. I’m trying to think of an NBA comp. I’m trying to think of a WNBA comp. There ain’t nobody in the world like A’ja Wilson, who willed us on her back and said, ‘Hey, I’m about to put you on my back. Come follow me.’ And we did.”

This power duo, combined with an explosive Aces lineup, has already won two back-to-back WNBA championships and is geared toward their third. Hammon has made it clear time and again that A’ja Wilson deserves all the recognition she’s getting and more. The 3x MVP has years left in her career, and in that time, she’s only going to make a stronger case for herself.