Many would believe that the Las Vegas Aces have established themselves as one of the greatest dynasties in WNBA history. Despite various setbacks, A’ja Wilson and Co. have always found a way to come out on top in recent times. And this is how they are going about things in their quest for a three-peat as well. While a majority of people opine that it is because of the immense talent that the roster possesses (This is evident by the fact that Becky Hammon’s team is sending four of its representatives to the 2024 Paris Olympics), Wilson revealed that there’s more to this than meets the eye.

Jayson Tatum and A’ja Wilson recently had an engaging conversation with Sue Bird on a special collaborative episode of The Old Man and The Three podcast. Bird wanted Wilson to elaborate on the virtues of the team. The 2023 Final MVP responded, “A lot of us can go to other teams. KP, Chelsea, and Jackie, they can go to other teams and be that No.1 option. But they choose to stay here and be like, ‘No, we want to continue to grow off this culture.'” 

A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray constitute the core of the Aces. While Wilson, Plum, and Young have been a part of the locker room since the very beginning, Gray joined the franchise in 2021 after already having won a championship. In addition to this, A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray were part of the gold medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympics.

At the same time, Plum and Young repeated the same feat for the 3×3 team. This year will mark the first occasion when these 4 will be representing the United States together at the spectacle. But before that, A’ja Wilson reflected on another important aspect that allows Las Vegas to secure positive results.

A’ja Wilson staying “poised through the noise”

The Las Vegas Aces were at the receiving end of a long list of narratives in their previous championship run. Therefore, Sue Bird was curious about how A’ja Wilson dealt with all that off-court noise. Wilson’s response to it was, “We have a saying that’s like stay poised through the noise. That’s something that we stand by, no matter what.”

She then detailed the stuff that the team went through last season, which has followed them this season as well. “We got hit by a lot of stuff last year. Little stuff this year. Our biggest thing is sometimes we make jokes out of it. Sometimes we just keep being us. We know that the talk is going to be silenced once we hoist the trophy. That’s just what you have to get to. That’s all you have to do.” 

Despite the recent slump, no one can count the Aces out of this year’s title contention. Amidst all the criticisms and negativity, the team knows how to deliver in crunch situations. Their supporters will hope they can display something similar this time around as well.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.