As the first-ever four-time MVP of the WNBA, A'ja Wilson has further cemented her legacy. The league announced on Sunday that the Las Vegas Aces star had won the prized accolade for the second straight season, confirming her supremacy in women's basketball.

It was not an easy race at all. In what many saw as a hotly contested race for the league's top individual award, Wilson defeated Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier. Wilson ultimately received 51 first-place votes and a resounding 657 points for her constancy and genius. With 534 points and 18 first-place votes, Collier, who worked hard throughout the season, came in second.

Other finalists left their mark as well. Alyssa Thomas of the Phoenix Mercury finished third with 391 points and three first-place selections, while Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream finished fourth with 180 points. With 93 points, emerging talent Kelsey Mitchell of the Indiana Fever completed the top five.

"They wrote us all off, but we showed up every single day. ... It has my name on it, but it's all of us. There is no award without each and every last one of you guys,” Wilson said to her teammates after receiving the award, "It hasn't been easy for us. They counted us out.”

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert surprised Wilson with the MVP award by walking into practice with her boyfriend, Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo. It was an incredible moment for the league. What started out as a routine training session turned into a celebration that was immediately recorded in league history.

This most recent accolade puts Wilson atop the game's luminaries and adds another piece of hardware to her collection. She currently has four MVPs, more than the three who ended their careers with three each: Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and Lauren Jackson. Her supremacy also dates back to 2024, when she became the only unanimous MVP in league history, joining Houston Comets player Cynthia Cooper. As befitted, Cooper won the first two consecutive Oscars in 1997 and 1998, making him the first back-to-back winner. Wilson is now firmly established in that exclusive group, pushing the limits of what it means to be a great WNBA player.

Wilson, 29, has already won MVP twice in 2020 and 2022, so she is no new to the limelight. But for the other four finalists, this season's pursuit was unprecedented because none had ever won the league's top individual award.

Napheesa Collier came very close to breaking that mark. As the second player in history to have a 50-40-90 shooting split during a WNBA regular season, the Lynx forward cemented her legacy. She had a three-week absence because of an ankle injury, which hurt her prospects of winning MVP, but for the majority of the season, she appeared to be in the lead.

This season felt different from the others, Wilson told ESPN. The Aces' resilience was put to the test early on as they struggled with inconsistency. The chemistry improved, the tempo quickened, and Las Vegas started a run that developed into a franchise-best 17-game winning streak by August. In addition to saving their season, that run highlighted Wilson's lasting influence as the key to their success.

This season presented a special challenge, Wilson said ESPN. Before things eventually fell into place in August, the Aces fumbled through the first several months as they looked for rhythm. They then went on an incredible run, a 17-game winning streak that was the longest in the franchise's history.

What transpired was a significant change. Las Vegas secured the No. 2 spot in the WNBA playoffs by turning a mediocre 14-14 record into a dominant 30-14 finish. They defeated the Seattle Storm to start the postseason, but in Game 2, their winning streak was ended. But because to Wilson's 38-point performance, which tied her personal playoff record, the Aces swiftly recovered and on Thursday punched their ticket to the semifinals for the seventh consecutive year.

"I work on tons of stuff, but I think my ability to read the defense and seeing what type of game it's going to be within the first couple of possessions [has improved]. I know as my career goes on, I'm going to see tons of different defenses, because that's what you deal with. I love just letting my basketball mind figure it out." Wilson told reporters.

Wilson's genius propelled the Aces to a late-season surge that thrust her into the MVP race, a position few had predicted she would hold following her slower start and the team's early setbacks. All of a sudden, what had seemed improbable became the league's main plot point.

Wilson and Las Vegas will now concentrate on their semifinal matchup with the Indiana Fever, which got underway on Sunday. However, they had a rough start to the season as the Aces lost Game 1 89-73.

"I had this moment on Friday, so I'm glad that I got those emotions and everything out the way. But today, it's business as usual," Wilson said before the game. "My main goal is exactly what we need to do today, is to get a win against a really good Indiana Fever team."

"This MVP was just different as a whole because my name wasn't in conversations even coming off of a unanimous season," Wilson said. "It was kind of like, 'All right, cool,' and that's mind blowing to me, and it seeped in a little bit into my mindset. ... But let me focus on getting the job done. Let me focus on how I could be a better teammate and a leader for this team, because that's what we really need."

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