South Carolina Basketball: A'ja Wilson wins WNBA award for 4th consecutive time
By Kevin Miller
A'ja Wilson is the best women's basketball player in the world. The South Carolina basketball alum has won two MVP honors and two WNBA titles, inserting herself into the GOAT conversation despite being just 27 years old.
On Monday, news broke that the Gamecock legend received an award from the WNBA, and it is one with which she is extremely familiar.
After averaging 26.5 points per game, 12.5 rebounds per game, and just under 3 blocks per game to start the 2024 season, A'ja Wilson is the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month. The honor is the 9th of Wilson's career and the 4th in a row (dating back to the 2023 campaign).
No other player has won more Western Conference Player of the Month honors in the history of the league or more than four Conference Player of the Month awards in a row. Tina Charles holds the record for most total Conference Player of the Month selections (12), but she won them in the Eastern Conference.
Wilson made history with her hot start in May. Through the season's first five games, she scored at least 20 points and pulled down at least 10 rebounds in each game. That marked the first time in WNBA history that a player had accomplished that feat in any 5-game stretch. She fell just one rebound short of extending the streak to 6 games.
Wilson appears well on her way to a third MVP award, and her Las Vegas Aces team is looking to three-peat. A third Most Valuable Player honor would tie Wilson for the most ever, along with Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie, and Sheryl Swoopes. A third-straight championship would make the Aces just the second franchise to accomplish the feat, joining the Houston Comets (who won four in a row from 1997-2000.
For those who haven't paid close attention to Wilson in recent months, the greatest South Carolina basketball player of all-time has picked up some off-the-court honors, as well. She is dropping her first signature shoe (the Nike A'One) in 2025, and her book Dear Black Girls made her a New York Times Best-Selling author.