A'ja Wilson is looking for her second consecutive WNBA title with the Las Vegas Aces, and one of her biggest fans is her former college coach, Dawn Staley. In an exclusive interview with CBS Sports HQ, the South Carolina coach described the WNBA superstar and what makes her great.
"She's crazy," Staley said of Wilson. "She is crazy good. Meaning she is funny, she is smart. She has an incredible appetite, insatiable desire to be great."
Wilson has one of the biggest personalities in the league, but behind all her banter on social media and funny moments off the court, she is a serious competitor. Wilson played for Staley from 2014–2018, and she helped South Carolina win its first ever national title in 2017.
Five years later, Wilson led the Aces to their first WNBA title, but now she is looking to repeat -- a feat she wasn't able to accomplish at South Carolina. Staley said she would like nothing more than to see it happen, and she told a story about what Wilson is doing to prepare.
"She's probably going to kill me for saying this, but it actually brought me to tears. She texted me probably a week ago, that was before Game 1 of the Finals, and she asked me for Sheryl Swoopes' number," Staley recounted. "She said, 'I need her number because I want to know how to repeat.'
"It's bitter sweet because we lost our back-to-back championship. We didn't win it [her] last year in the NCAA Tournament, so I can't be that, I can't give her what that feels like. But I'm glad I got Sheryl's number in my phone to pass it on to A'ja so A'ja can get the very thing that she wants."
Swoopes won four WNBA titles during her time as a player with the Houston Comets. Staley said she saw Swoopes talk to Wilson in the first game of the finals last week, and she couldn't have been happier to see her former player go after what she wants.
"It makes my heart feel super great knowing that she wants to be great and she went to one of the greatest who have ever done it in Sheryl Swoopes to get that information," Staley said.
She called Wilson "the best player in the world" because of what she does on the court, but also because of her "fire and desire" to succeed, being a great teammate, and for being a good ambassador for the game of basketball.
Wilson won the WNBA MVP title in 2020 and 2022, and she wanted the honor again this year. However, this year the MVP title went to New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart. Wilson said it "hurt like hell" to not win it, but at the end of the day she is still focused on helping her team succeed.
"To watch her grow and embrace who she is, what she is, even though she didn't get the thing that she wanted -- one of the things that she wanted was MVP -- it never stops her from being the great player and person that she is," Staley said.
Game 2 of the WNBA finals between the Aces and Liberty is set for Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.
