A’ja Wilson reveals text she sent to Aces after embarrassing loss

Hours prior to the beginning of the WNBA finals between the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury, A’ja Wilson understands what it took to get her team to this point.

On Aug. 2, the Aces fell victim to a 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx at Michelob ULTRA Arena, the largest margin of defeat in team history. It left Wilson and the team struggling for answers, and many assumed the championship window was closing on the Aces at last. The loss knocked them down to 14-14 with a month and a half remaining in the regular season, and the Aces felt like a team that were stuck firmly on the playoff bubble.

Understanding that things needed to change and quickly, Wilson sent a short but blunt text message to get her feelings across about how the season is going.

Wilson’s words ultimately lead to the turning point of the Aces’ season.

According to ESPN’s Michael Voepel, the message sent from Wilson to the rest of the Aces in the team’s group chat was harsh and to the point.

“If you weren’t embarrassed from yesterday, then don’t come into this gym. You’re not needed or wanted here. We need the mindset to shift, because that was embarrassing,” the message read.

It was clear that Wilson viewed the loss as unacceptable on all accounts, and she wanted to stress to her team that this was never going to happen again.

“At first I thought, ‘I don’t want my teammates to feel everything I’m feeling right now,'” Wilson said. “Then I realized: How can I help them understand that this is the last time we’re going to feel this way?

“I was dissecting the game in my head: What did [the Lynx] do that we could not do? It was just that they played harder. That’s when I decided to send the infamous text message.”

As difficult as it was to get the message out, it was well-received, as the Aces went out the following day to defeat the Golden State Valkyries.

That win sparked a franchise-record 17-game winning streak that carried through the rest of the regular season, lifting the Aces from the eighth and final playoff seed to the second. Gutsy series wins against the Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever now have the Aces four wins away from securing their third championship in four years.

“We knew things had to change because what we were doing wasn’t the Aces’ standard at all,” Aces guard Jackie Young said. “When A’ja says something in the group [text] important like that, everybody responds because everybody respects her. That loss and that message shifted our season.”

While the discussion has shifted to whether the Aces can cement their place as the WNBA’s next great dynasty, it cannot be forgotten just how drastically the discourse has shifted over the last two months thanks to Wilson and her message.

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