A’ja Wilson was named Time magazine’s 2025 Athlete of the Year and The Associated Press’ Women’s Athlete of the Year this week after leading the Las Vegas Aces to their third WNBA title in four years and winning a record fourth MVP award.
Wilson became the first player in WNBA or NBA history to win a championship, scoring title and be named Finals MVP, league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. She had won all of those awards multiple times before. But in 2025, she put it all together.
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Wilson spoke with Time on varying subjects — from her status in basketball history, to the state of WNBA collective bargaining negotiations, the growing popularity of women’s sports and her relationship with Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo.
Here are notable quotes from Wilson in her magazine interview for Athlete of the Year:
On her growing GOAT Case:
“I’m on my way there,” Wilson said. “I’m making it real hard for people to chase after me. That’s what it means to be the GOAT.”
And why did she don Thanos’ famous infinity gauntlet during the team’s championship parade earlier this year?
“When you’ve collected everything, that’s Thanos,” she said, referring to the “Avengers” antagonist. “And this year, I collected everything. I don’t really talk much sh–. I mean crap. I kind of let my game do it. This was my biggest moment of doing it, because no one’s ever done what I’ve done. And I think people really needed to understand that.”
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On WNBA’s rise in viewership and popularity:
“I’m going to win this MVP, I’ll win a gold medal, y’all can’t shake my résumé,” Wilson said on the 2024 rhetoric that Caitlin Clark was the sole reason for the WNBA’s recent rise in viewership and popularity. “It was more so, let’s not lose the recipe. Let’s not lose the history. It was erased for a minute.
“And I don’t like that. Because we have tons of women that have been through the grimiest of grimy things to get the league where it is today.”
On CBA negotiations and Cathy Engelbert:
“All of us are going to be at the table,” Wilson said, “and we’re not moving until we get exactly what we want.”
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Wilson didn’t hold back when discussing WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the league, referencing Napheesa Collier’s comments admonishing the commissioner after the Minnesota Lynx were eliminated from the playoffs in October. Collier said the WNBA has “the best fans in the world, the best players in the world, but the worst leadership in the world,” and shared details of behind-the-scenes discussions she had with the commissioner last year.
“I asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin (Clark), Angel (Reese) and Paige (Bueckers), who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little their first four years,” Collier said at the time. “Her response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.’ In that same conversation, she told me, ‘Players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.’”
Wilson said, “I only know Cathy by when she hands me trophies. If that’s her true self, thank you for showing that. … Because now we see you for who you are, and now we’re about to work even harder at this negotiation.”
“We’ve been told to make sandwiches and get in the kitchen for the longest,” Wilson said. “If we can get through bullying of those types, I don’t think bullying is going to ever shake us.”
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On what she hopes her legacy will be:
“I think I can do three more,” Wilson said of winning more championships.
“Give me rings. Let me take the picture and really show off who I am. I don’t want to have to be somebody that’s like, ‘Yep, I’m A’ja Wilson, everybody.’ I could also hold this aura and impact where everyone’s like, ‘Oh no, that’s A’ja Wilson.’ And I don’t have to say a word.”
On her growing influence with her Nike signature shoes:
“When I have these seats at the table,” says Wilson, “I’m clearing space for people to bring their chairs up too.”
On her relationship with Adebayo:
“This is my life partner,” Wilson said of Adebayo. “Honestly, what on earth was my world before you? That’s how much he’s impacted my life, my family’s life.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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