How Much Bonus Did A’ja Wilson and Fellow LV Aces Players Earn for Their 2024 WNBA Playoffs Path?

The Las Vegas Aces almost had a dynasty. The team that won back-to-back WNBA Championships for the first time in two decades was nowhere to be seen in 2024. On the verge of a three-peat, the A’ja Wilson-led team lost to the very opponents they had defeated in last year’s finals. While every team dreams of a Finals trophy and the glory it brings, there is also the monetary prize. Having reached the semifinals, how much did the Aces earn?

Thanks to one of the most talented, not to mention popular, rookie classes the W has ever seen, the viewership for women’s basketball was at an all-time high in 2024. More audiences and more streams meant good things not just for the sport but for the business as well. And because women’s basketball has a unique playoff format, each player in the Las Vegas Aces is guaranteed a bonus postseason paycheck.

A’ja Wilson and Co. defeated the Seattle Storm in a best-of-three format, which meant the losing team went home with a $1,616 paycheck. But since the Liberty defeated the Aces in the second round, the players will go home with $3,123. The Finals will be decided between the New York Liberty and whoever wins the decisive Game 5 between the Minnesota Lynx and the Connecticut Sun.

The Championship runner-up will receive $7,746, while the winner will get a $20,825 bonus. Sadly, even if the Aces had advanced to the finals and somehow won, they would not have benefitted from a cash reward. But then, to achieve a feat that has not been seen since the Houston Comets did it in the first years of the WNBA coming into existence, the glory would be enough.

However, this year’s LV Aces team was not what fans were expecting in the postseason. Without their edge all season long, the playoffs came, and the players realized it too late. From leading the league in defense last year, this year the team ranked 5th. Even their 3-point percentage dipped from 37.2 in 2023 to 34.8 before the Olympics, and A’ja Wilson winning the MVP award for a third time was not enough to carry a team of 12 on its own.

A livid Becky Hammon had addressed the media after the Aces lost Game 2 to New York about the team not being focused enough. And later, she knew the habits her players had built were not strong enough. Even Wilson had a comment to share about her team’s motivation.

“Are we going to put the work in to get it done?” asks A’ja Wilson

2024 was the year when A’ja Wilson set the WNBA record for being the first player to ever score 1000 points in the regular season. Along with a flurry of other broken records, her MVP award proved that she’s the best player in the league right now. But basketball is a team sport.

“We’ve seen snippets in games that we have enough to get the job done,” Wilson said after the Aces’ loss to the Liberty in Game 4. “It’s just a matter of, do we want to get it done? The confidence is there, the talk is going to always be there. But are we going to put the work in to get it done? Are we going to do the extra little things? And that’s what’s going to take us there.”

While the likes of Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart couldn’t help but compliment Las Vegas for making them a better team, the Aces know that if they want another trophy, some serious hard work lies ahead. Their head coach knows that their glaring errors stood out a bit more than their skills. The streak is broken; but can the Las Vegas Aces still make a stronger comeback in 2025?