The Las Vegas Aces are in full crisis mode. Their backcourt is struggling, Coach Becky Hammond is at her players’ necks, and they are headed back to Vegas trailing the New York Liberty 0-2 in the WNBA semi-finals. The last thing they needed was more drama—and then this video resurfaced of star forward A’ja Wilson giving her honest opinion about white players, and it’s all anybody can talk about.
The A’ja Wilson video has gone viral, surpassing 20 million views on X (formerly Twitter) where it was posted. After the Aces’ Game 1 loss to the Liberty, New York’s star players, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, who are both white, combined for 55 points in the win.
In the video, the 2024 WNBA MVP is seen talking to her teammate Kelsey Plum about how white privilege propelled players like Plum and Paige Bueckers. They were sitting courtside watching the UConn star take on Caitlin Clark in Iowa, which sparked the racial conversation. Wilson was trying to make the point that Bueckers reminded her of Plum—in a good way—but that’s not how it was received by many people who saw the video on social media, including the Caitlin Clark fan account that posted it.
One line in particular looked bad in hindsight, making it seem like Wilson was dismissing the talent of transcendent white players while giving a backhanded compliment to her teammate. “And also, like, she’s good at basketball, obviously,” Wilson said of Bueckers to her Las Vegas teammate Plum. “She understands her privilege is what pushes her over the top, in a sense. It reminds me a lot of you. If you hear—and that’s a compliment.”
“It’s never a compliment,” pointed out a popular reply to the video. “Damn A’ja, I was rooting for you,” said another critical comment on X. “What kind of loser mindset is this? Kelsey Plum and Paige Bueckers are some of the best female hoopers, and we’re talking about privilege?”
The off-court controversy comes at a bad time for the Aces. Head coach Becky Hammond was seen airing out Plum during their Game 2 loss in New York. The meltdown continued in the post-game press conference, where she took a shot at her players for lacking motivation. The two-time defending champs are one loss away from the end of their 2024 season, but the cloud overhead looms much larger in the bigger picture.
Their coach is calling out players, and their biggest star is under fire for comments that make for a bad look around the league. The Aces’ dynasty appears to be cracking, and the WNBA is ready to move into a new era—with or without them.
