A'ja Wilson wins final calendar awards to finish WNBA regular season

In news that was a surprise to virtually no one, South Carolina basketball alum A'ja Wilson was named the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week and Western Conference Player of the Month as the final calendar awards were handed out on Friday.

Wilson was the Western Conference Player of the Week 6 times during the 2024 season (giving her 22 for her career), and she was selected as the Western Conference Player of the Month four times (totaling 12 honors in her career). The only POM award that did not go Wilson's way was the August selection for fellow power forward/center Napheesa Collier; Wilson averaged more points, rebounds, and blocks than Collier (by significant margins) that month.

As the WNBA regular season came to a close at the end of this week, A'ja Wilson finished her assault on the record books with all-time records in points, points per game, rebounds, and PER (Player Efficiency Rating). She also led the league in blocked shots, blocks per game, field goals made, and free throws made, finished in the top-5 league-wide in steals and steals per game, and was top-10 in the WNBA in field goal percentage and free throw percentage among players with at least 100 shots from the charity stripe. Amazingly, despite her high usage on offense and heavy burden on defense, she was not in the top-50 in the league in turnovers or personal fouls.

The heavy favorite to win a unanimous WNBA MVP award, Wilson also should be the Defensive Player of the Year and has her Las Vegas Aces team in position to have a realistic chance at their third WNBA Finals win in a row.

The WNBA Postseason begins on Sunday, September 22nd, and Wilson and the Aces will open their playoffs with a best-of-three series against the Seattle Storm.