Dawn Staley Picking Kamilla Cardoso Over A’ja Wilson Wasn’t a Problem as Aces Teammate Spills the Beans on “USC Family Tradition”

Who would you pick if your family members were to fight against each other? When the Chicago Sky clashed against the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday, the South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley was involved in a similar dilemma. Two of her former mentees A’ja Wilson and Kamilla Cardoso were up against each other. Staley’s video on the social media networking platform X taking a stance for Cardoso went viral. While many expected this to not go well with the Aces’ center, Wilson seemed happy as per her teammate – the Las Vegas Aces star Alysha Clark.

Clark was present in an interview on The Hoffman Show when she revealed that Wilson was laughing out while seeing the viral video of Staley taking Cardoso’s side. “A’ja just laughed. She was like crying laughing at it. Um, I mean but that’s… that’s the thing right? A’ja’s literally probably done that to all the Gamecocks at this point. Like she’s gotten Alisha or Allisha. Excuse me! She’s gotten Z. She now yeah she’s gotten everybody, you know. I feel like it’s you know when you’re in college and you have that initiation phase, I feel like that’s just her way of continuing the USC family tradition at the pro level,” Clark stated, via Hoffman Women’s Sports.

Staley had posted her video on social media when Wilson had blocked Cardoso. The Aces in the end won the game by a 95-83 margin. But on seeing the block against Cardoso, Staley in the viral video stated, “Don’t do that to Kamilla! Do not do that to Kamilla! I’m gonna fight. I’m gonna fight. I’m gonna fight. I’m gonna fight.”

But as per Clark, this is University of South Carolina tradition, as Wilson was with Staley from 2014-18 whereas Cardoso plied her trade for the Gamecocks from 2021-24. Clark also stated that Wilson had also extended this “family tradition” to other former Gamecock stars such as Zia Cooke and Allisha Gray. While Gray plays for the Atlanta Dream right now, Cooke is a member of the Los Angeles Sparks. And as mentioned Wilson has blocked both of them. Therefore, Wilson doesn’t mind blocking Staley’s mentees and proving her mettle. In the end, Wilson also emerged on the winning end even without Staley’s support.

A’ja Wilson wins it for her team

As mentioned, the Las Vegas Aces trumped the Chicago Sky. Wilson was the highest scorer in the game with an exceptional 31 points. She also added 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Other than that she had 2 blocks in the game. Wilson therefore has been performing exemplary this season as she leads the W in points and rebounds.

She averages a double-double with 26.9 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Looks like she doesn’t want to miss the shot at taking home the MVP award – something she couldn’t get last year despite the Aces winning the Championship title.

Perhaps, the WNBA will continue to spice up things as more and more athletes compete against each other. And it would be an honor for every former Gamecocks star to watch Staley supporting them.

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.