A'ja Wilson Wins Record 5th WNBA MVP — Three Straight, and Vegas Owns the Greatest Ever

LAS VEGAS — There's greatest-of-all-time, and then there's what A'ja Wilson is doing. The Las Vegas Aces star was named WNBA MVP on Thursday — her fifth, a league record, and the first time any player has won it three years running.

The vote wasn't close. Wilson took 65 of 74 first-place votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, finishing with 713 points. Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles was a distant second at 442. The rest of the league's all-time greats — Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Lauren Jackson — maxed out at three MVPs each, and none of them ever won back-to-back, let alone three straight. The only WNBA player to even repeat was Cynthia Cooper in 1997 and 1998.

The numbers behind it are silly. Wilson led the league in scoring for the third straight season at 26.2 points a game, shooting nearly 53% from the field. She added 9.4 rebounds, a career-best 3.2 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.4 steals across 41 games — and became the first player in league history to average at least 25 points while shooting 50% from the field and 40% from three. She did all of it at 30 years old, after missing time with back and leg issues during the season.

"I'm not satisfied, but I am so grateful and I'm so blessed to be able to do what I do."— A'ja Wilson, on the MVP and the legacy she's chasing

Here's the part that should matter to this city: she's ours. Drafted first overall in 2018, Wilson has spent her entire career in Las Vegas. She's the franchise's all-time leader in points, rebounds, free throws, and minutes. Three of the last four championships run through her. When people talk about the Mount Rushmore of this town's sports history, the conversation starts with her name and works backward.

The timing is almost cruel, though. The MVP news lands with the Aces' season hanging by a thread — down 2-0 to the Golden State Valkyries in the best-of-five semifinal, facing elimination at home Friday night. Wilson dragged this team to an eighth straight semifinal. Now she gets to add "reigning five-time MVP" to the scouting report for a win-or-go-home game.