EXCLUSIVE: Aces’ Wilson opens up about title failure, Plum-Loyd trade

A’ja Wilson is enjoying a celebratory phase of her life, but it hasn’t stopped the Aces star from discussing what she views as one of her failures.

Amid an emotional weekend dedicated to her jersey retirement and signature Nike shoe reveal, the three-time WNBA MVP repeated in multiple interviews that her top priority is “bringing the championship feeling” back to Las Vegas.

The sentiment comes after the Aces’ bid for three straight WNBA titles was thwarted by the New York Liberty last season in the semifinals.

Wilson’s perspective is clear: Her team had the opportunity to do something rarely done and “fell short.”

In an exclusive interview with the Review-Journal, Wilson opened up about what she learned from the season.

“It wasn’t a championship locker room,” Wilson said. “I mean, out the gate, going into training camp, I was like, ‘We ain’t got it.’”

It wasn’t that she doubted the capability of her teammates, Wilson said. It was because of a test that her former South Carolina coach Dawn Staley taught her, that a winning team should “look, sound and feel a certain way.”

“I always told myself every game, ‘We’re gonna get there, we’re gonna check (each) box,’” Wilson said. “But we didn’t.”

This time around, Wilson said she’s spoken to core teammates Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray to prepare them.

“I’ve already told them my mindset,” Wilson said. “It’s gonna get nipped in the bud when we feel it. We’re not gonna let (coach Becky Hammon) come in and scream at us, we gotta do it instantly. So I’m glad we went through it. I really am.”

Different team

One message from Hammon has resonated for Wilson throughout the offseason.

In her final postgame news conference of the Aces’ last season, Hammon said it saddened her that the team surely wasn’t going to be the “same group,” but that the front office needed to reflect and make the necessary moves to improve.

The changes were swift, starting with the exit of a general manager and two assistant coaches, who both left to become head coaches. The Aces went on to lose rookie fan favorite Kate Martin in the Golden State Valkyries’ expansion draft, then watched all four of their unrestricted free agents — Kelsey Plum, Alysha Clark, Tiffany Hayes and Sydney Colson — move on to other teams.

It took Hammon’s comments for Wilson to realize what was ahead.

“You’re constantly just in the moment and (thinking about) how to get better, and what can you do more to provide for your team,” Wilson. “So it really didn’t hit me until after the season. When Becky said that, I kind of sat back and I was like, ‘Dang.’”

Now that the Aces’ state of change has sunk in, Wilson is even more grateful for the time she had with the team’s championship squad.

“I love my teammates so much,” she said. “I thought about all the other legendary teams, and you see that no roster is ever the same. And, like, we actually just got lucky our second go-around that we got additions.”

Inside blockbuster trade

The Aces have signed multiple frontcourt options and most recently added Tiffany Mitchell, a former teammate of Wilson’s at South Carolina.

But the trade that sent Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for Jewell Loyd remains the biggest blockbuster. It’s the first in league history to involve multiple No. 1 picks, and served as a catalyst for free agency movement to begin this year.

For Wilson, it’s bittersweet.

“(Plum) was our hard-nose player that did all of everything in the moment, whenever we needed her,” Wilson said. “In the locker room, she was always someone that spoke her mind. You need that honesty in the locker room. We’re definitely gonna miss her.

“… But I’m also very happy that she is starting her journey in a new light that she wants. She wanted it, so I’m so glad that she’s getting what she wants, and I hope that she gets everything that she deserves.”

While processing Plum’s absence, Wilson is also relishing Loyd’s addition.

Loyd said the Aces were the reason for her constant smile when she was formally introduced as a member of the team. That’s what Wilson is excited about.

“When she can just play with an open mind, (she’s) very, very hard to stop,” Wilson said. “So I’m super excited. … Jewell is just a phenomenal person, and that’s what we love. We love good-character people in our locker rooms.”

Wilson said she and Loyd have grown close through representing Team USA at two Olympics together.

“We have to always sit with two people in between us on the bench because we just cut up really bad,” Wilson said. “But we always find ourselves sitting together on the bench (anyway) because we just find so much joy in the game, and she’s always down for a good laugh. That’s really my dog.”

As much as they enjoy each other’s company, Wilson and Loyd didn’t imagine they’d ever be on the same WNBA team.

“We’ve always been competitors,” Wilson said. “We would always joke about playing together, but I’m like, ‘I’m never leaving Vegas.’”

When Wilson got the call that Loyd was being traded to the Aces, she said she FaceTimed her from Paris (a Fashion Week and NBA trip), and they initially just stared at each other.

“(It was) complete silence, like we’re shook, we’re stunned,” Wilson said. “And all of a sudden, you just hear us screaming, like, ‘Let’s go! We’re talking to each other as teammates!’”

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.