South Carolina Basketball: Aja Wilson honored once again
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina basketball legend Aja Wilson breaks a record or wins an award almost every week these days.
Just this season in the WNBA, Wilson has tied the all-time single-game scoring record, had a different game in which she set a new record for high-volume field goal percentage, brought home an ESPY, had three weeks where she was honored as the WNBA’s Western Conference’s Player of the Week, and won two WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month awards.
Now, the Las Vegas Aces’ superstar’s Player of the Month count has reached three.
For the third straight month, the WNBA’s best player was chosen as the Western Conference Player of the Month. For August, Wilson led the entire league in scoring with 24.8 points per game and was a double-double threat each night with 9.8 boards per night. On the defensive end of the floor, she also added 2 blocks per contest.
Because of her strong play, Aja Wilson is one of just two real candidates for the WNBA MVP award this season. Wilson and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart are runaway favorites for the league’s top individual honor, and both players are the best players on the two best teams in the league.
Comparing the two players, Wilson seems to have a slight edge, but it is extremely close. For the 2023 season:
Aja Wilson: 22.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 steals, 2.2 blocks, 54.6%, 32-6 record
Breanna Stewart: 23.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.6 blocks, 46.8%, 31-7 record
Stewart, as a more perimeter-oriented player on offense, handles the ball more and has more assists. Wilson, as a post player, has better efficiency numbers.
Both play excellent defense, but Aja Wilson has the edge there, as well, as she is the reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and a favorite to win again as she anchors the league’s best defense. If she were to win both the MVP and the DPOY again in 2023, she would join Sheryl Swoopes as the only players to win both awards in the same year in two separate seasons.
If Aja Wilson can win the Western Conference Player of the Month award again in September (a real possibility), she will have won the award in every full month of the WNBA calendar. A third MVP award would tie the all-time record shared currently by Sheryl Swoopes, Lauren Jackson, and Lisa Leslie.