A’ja Wilson's Health Takes Priority as Aces Prepare for Playoffs

LAS VEGAS — The noise around A’ja Wilson is getting louder. Inside the Aces’ gym, they’re turning it down.

While pundits debate why the four-time WNBA MVP skipped the FIBA women’s World Cup, Las Vegas has settled on one priority: her body.

“She's needed some time, obviously,” Aces coach Becky Hammon told USA TODAY after Wednesday’s practice. “I still think she's dealing with some back stuff. Some days it's a little sorer than others.”

The plan is clear. When the WNBA schedule resumes on Sept. 17, Hammon expects Wilson to be ready to drive the Aces through the final four games of the regular season. Win those, and Las Vegas should lock in the third seed and enter the playoffs with enough momentum to chase another title.

“For the most part, I think she's able to come out here and compete, and be there for her teammates, which is always her first priority,” Hammon said. “But I'm keeping an eye on her, you know? Even in this downtime.”

World Cup absence, world of opinions

Wilson’s late withdrawal from the World Cup lit the match. The backlash kept it burning.

She and former Aces guard Kelsey Plum were both late scratches from the Team USA roster, with USA Basketball announcing on Monday, Aug. 31 that Washington Mystics players Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron would step in. The change came just days before the U.S. opened World Cup play in Berlin on Friday, Aug. 31.

Team USA rolled through group play at 3-0. The criticism didn’t slow down.

Former ESPN host Linda Cohn floated a theory that had nothing to do with MRIs or treatment tables, suggesting Wilson’s absence stemmed from “insecurity” rather than health concerns.

“Is there any part of A'ja that didn't want to spend the next couple of weeks watching the World Cup become the Caitlin Clark show?" Cohn asked on her show. "Could there be some insecurity, dare I say? ... If Aja Wilson has a back injury, then why did she play over 30 minutes a game in six of her last seven games and over 27 minutes in the other?”

Those comments detonated across social media. One of the most forceful replies came from Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.

"Linda Cohn owes A'ja Wilson a public apology and a retraction," King wrote. "What disappointing, delusional, and dangerous commentary targeting a great ambassador and GOAT athlete for the @wnba and for sports. Period."

Hammon hadn’t heard the remarks in full. She didn’t need a transcript to make her point.

“A'ja has every right to do what she feels is best health wise. And the other thing is, the men do this all the time,” Hammon told USA TODAY. “Can you name me any of the men's world championship rosters right now? Can you name me any person on there? What I’m saying is, LeBron (James) and those guys - if this was a man making this decision, there would be nothing to say. And that's my problem.”

The history backs her up. LeBron James played in just one FIBA Basketball World Cup, in 2006 in Japan, where he helped the U.S. to bronze. After that, his summers revolved around the Olympics and NBA recovery. Stephen Curry’s last World Cup run came in 2014, when he won gold with Team USA. Top NBA stars have long treated the World Cup as optional, choosing rest or the Olympics instead — a reality that came into sharper focus when a younger, second-tier U.S. group finished fourth at the 2023 FIBA World Cup behind Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson.

Wilson is making a similar calculation, only with more public second-guessing.

Aces’ reality: health, holes and hard choices

Inside the Aces’ orbit, there were warning signs well before USA Basketball announced her withdrawal.

Wilson appeared on Las Vegas’ injury report twice in the week leading up to the decision with a back issue. Before that, she sat out the Aces’ 93-85 loss to the New York Liberty in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship with a right leg injury. She then missed games against the Chicago Sky on July 3 and the Indiana Fever on July 5.

“She wants to play. I’m not letting her play,” Hammon said at the time.

The tension for Las Vegas was obvious: protect their superstar or push her, with playoff seeding on the line and the team wobbling. The Aces had won just two of six before a 101-78 win over the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 20. When asked why Wilson and the other stars weren’t rested in that blowout, Hammon didn’t sugarcoat it.

"Have you seen us play lately?" she snapped. “We need to start getting our [expletive] together."

That was the reality. The defending champions looked vulnerable, and Wilson was absorbing hit after hit in the paint.

Then came another blow. Forward NaLyssa Smith was officially ruled out for the rest of the 2026 WNBA season on Aug. 27, stripping more size and scoring from the frontcourt and ensuring Wilson would face even more defensive traffic whenever she returned.

The Aces moved quickly. On Aug. 29, they signed 6-foot-7 center Kalani Brown, a physical presence meant to take some of the pounding off Wilson and give Hammon another big body to deploy.

When Brown was introduced, Aces general manager and president Nikki Fargas made it clear the move wasn’t cosmetic.

She said Brown would “be very impactful immediately,” then widened the lens to what Wilson is enduring.

“I just want to say, there's a lot of pounding that goes on in this league. And there's a lot of expectations that are placed on these players,” Fargas said. “(With) the greatness that exists in A'ja at this time, the most important thing is is player health. And so as an organization, we want to make sure that we're leading in that way.”

That’s the line Las Vegas has drawn: ignore the noise, protect the star, retool the roster, and get to mid-September with Wilson upright and ready.

The real judgment on her decision won’t come from talk shows. It will come when the Aces step into the playoffs and everyone sees what’s left in the tank of the player they’re betting their season on.