While the Las Vegas Aces are certainly going for the three-peat this season, for their star A’ja Wilson, this year is all about redemption. Wilson, during the 2023 WNBA, could not win over the hearts of the fans, which was evident in the MVP voting. This certainly hurt her, as it would have any other W player who was at her peak. And Wilson chose to express her dissatisfaction by donning a t-shirt that had the MVP votes listed on it. So this year, the 2x WNBA MVP is making sure she doesn’t miss out on the opportunity to get her hands on the coveted award. However, an injury looks to have probably limited her chances of bagging the title.

The 2x WNBA Champion was playing a game against the Connecticut Sun on Friday when she hurt her ankle. Though A’ja Wilson did not make an issue out of it then, her fans were concerned, since she too, like Angel Reese, could have had a season-ending injury. Today, we take a look at the incident that has impacted the Aces and if the 28-year-old will take the court today.

Will A’ja Wilson come out of the injury scare to battle the New York Liberty?

As per the latest update, Wilson has been ruled out of the Aces-Liberty game in Brooklyn. Fans are curious to know if the injury is grave enough to impact the entire season or if Wilson will be back after missing a few games. Though that is not clear right now, the Aces’ head coach Becky Hammon’s pregame interview will most probably give the latest update on the injury. As of now, WNBA reporter Alexa Philippou tweeted about Wilson’s injury on X and her missing the WNBA game.

The Aces will be playing against their arch-rival the New York Liberty at the Barclays Center on Sunday. Wilson, who averages a whopping 27.3 points with 11.9 rebounds per game, had met with an unavoidable accident just 5 seconds prior to her team’s victory over the Sun on Friday. The Aces were leading with a close 71-67 tally then when the Sun guard Marina Mabrey tried to score a layup against the Aces.

However, unfortunately for the Sun, Mabrey missed the two-pointer, and Wilson, who is famous for rebounding skills, collected a defensive rebound. The Sun’s athletes did not take a rest as their center Brionna Jones, along with her teammate DiJonai Carrington, tried to grab the ball. This led to Jones falling on Wilson’s ankle most probably as she was seen limping her way off the court. But to the fans’ delight, A’ja Wilson was back on the hardwood, taking free throws (since Jones was called a personal foul), and helping her team win the matchup by a 72-67 margin. But it did get her admirers worried especially since they had seen Reese play recently even after a season-ending injury. And their fear has now turned into reality.

A’ja Wilson’s quest for dominance continues

Overall, Wilson has played 34 games this season, starting in all of them. With Reese ending her season on a sour note due to an injury, many expected that the South Carolina-born will become the highest rebounder for the season, overtaking the Chi-Town Barbie. Wilson is already the leader in points average and blocks average.

While there is no denying that the dominance this season has come due to an unfulfilled dream last year, many opine that Chelsea Gray’s average performance has also prompted the 2018 WNBA Rookie of the Year to take the onus for the team and double her efforts. Gray had missed the initial 12 games due to a foot injury that she had sustained during Game 3 of the Championship Finale series last year. After taking the court this year, Gray, as of now, averages a paltry 8 points with 4.9 assists per game. But fans do not miss her contribution, particularly because Wilson has amped up her game.

But now with the latest update, it remains to be seen how the Aces will tackle the next few games. Firstly, the fans will be curious to know the gravity of the situation as they would be hoping that Wilson makes a comeback in the next game against the Indiana Fever on Wednesday.

Another disappointing thing for fans is that if A’ja Wilson remains out of the court for much time, she might not get the chance to go after her dream of winning the MVP. If such a thing happens, it would be very unfortunate for the 2x Olympic gold medalist since she had outperformed the other prospective MVPs this season by miles and bounds.

At this point, all that the Aces can hope for is to maintain their fourth spot in the playoffs. Other than that, fans would be hoping that Wilson makes a comeback soon. To conclude, this game against the Liberty will also make clear if the Becky Hammon-coached team will be able to counterbalance Wilson’s loss.