This season is like no other. Be it scoring, competition, or fan wars, all aspects of intrigue have ticked the boxes throughout the season. That’s why the league was able to refill its arenas back up to 94%, up 17% from last year. Not just that, the WNBA also wrapped up its season with sold-out and viewership record-breaking games. It’s a staggering 170% increase from last year’s game, averaging 1.2 million viewers.

Despite an illustrative growth that had taken the WNBA to another level, the time MVP felt “super annoyed.” Well, it’s not just people watching more games, they’re also talking about it. And that’s where legends dive in, to prove and then reprove their potential.

“I feel like the growth was just like it wasn’t the creeping growth that we were used to. It was like, no, we’re taking a leap… I’m not gonna lie, it was super annoying sometimes because you constantly feel like you have to reprove yourself.”

It was a sentiment Kelsey Mitchell too shared last week. “I think, in a weird way, the outside noise kind of made people forget sometimes that we’re still human, if that makes sense?” Mitchell had shared on Player’s Tribune, reflecting on the unexpected scrutiny that comes along with the growth of the league.

Clearly, the rise has brought both joy and growing pains for the entire WNBA family. While Mitchell spoke about how fans were hateful online regardless of the fact that she had lost her father months before or that Katie Lou was a mom trying to figure out motherhood, Wilson had previously mentioned the exhaustion that all the criticism, sometimes blended with rac-sm caused. She also faced expectations from analysts and former players, including Sheryl Swoopes, who made it clear that her 19-point performance in the semi-finals just wasn’t her.

The three-time MVP shot 51.8 percent from the field and had a career-high 11.9 rebounds to go along with 2.6 blocks per game. For her, it was about proving herself. “It took away the fun of the game as you have to defend yourself… who you are as a player every single game.” Despite enduring all that pressure, Wilson was as good, if not better, as ever.

A’ja Wilson and the league savor recognition

As Wilson won the third MVP award of her six-year professional career in the W, she led the Aces with their presence in the sixth consecutive playoffs. Not just that, she even finished the year with a WNBA single-season scoring record of 1021 points. And LeBron James was one among many who hasn’t been short about complimenting her.

He, in fact, called her throughout the 2024 campaign. Comments like “Congratulations sis love to see it,” or “game blouses,” or even “Lil sis going crazy right now @AjaWilson” were common from him. Tom Brady, Pau Gasol, Bam Adebayo, and Lisa Leslie were a few others who had chimed in with congratulatory messages after Wilson had hit 1000 points.

Then in a huge win for the league, the W recorded a total attendance of 2,353,735, which was the highest in the last 22 years, thanks to an all-time record of over 54 million unique viewers across ABC, ESPN, ION, NBA TV, and other networks. Although Wilson was prevented from a three-peat following a defeat by the New York Liberty, they did help the league in breaking records.

“People are starting to realize we’re really good at what we do. We’re elite at what we do. I love the energy now,” Wilson had also admitted. So the year has been a double-edged sword for the WNBA, but it is greatful for the potential heights in store.