No kidding around for A’ja Wilson, Team USA in WNBA All-Star Game

PHOENIX — As Aces star A’ja Wilson fielded questions from countless media members Friday, she was reminded of her first All-Star experience.

She was voted into the 2018 All-Star Game in Minneapolis, where she found herself as a reserve on Team Elena Delle Donne with WNBA legends including Sylivia Fowles, Sue Bird and Seimone Augustus. Maya Moore was on the opposing team led by Candace Parker.

None of those players is currently active in the league, as they have either retired or stepped away for the season. But Wilson will never forget how her veteran teammates pushed her to the center of the logo before the game started and forced her to act as a captain.

“I was just so nervous,” Wilson said. “That’s one of my favorite moments, because I was really surrounded by greatness.”

The two-time MVP is now making her fifth All-Star appearance, participating as an Olympian for the second time in her career. The league is conducting Saturday’s exhibition game as a competition between Team USA and Team WNBA, instead of its normal East vs. West configuration. The Olympic roster features four Aces: Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.

The All-Star Game is often a laid-back and fun opportunity for both teams to show their skills and skip playing defense. In 2018, Gray opened the game by running in the wrong direction.

That said, don’t expect fun and games when Saturday’s exhibition tips off at Footprint Center. This is Team USA’s first opportunity to establish its identity after just two practices together.

“(It’s) definitely (going to be) competitive,” New York Liberty forward and Olympian Breanna Stewart said. “We’re trying to get ready for the Olympics. This is an amazing weekend and amazing hospitality by Phoenix and everything, but we have to be locked in, because our time together is short.”

To support her point about the serious nature of the game, Stewart referenced the league’s first time matching the WNBA’s non-Olympians against Team USA during All-Star Weekend. It resulted in a 93-85 win for Team WNBA in 2021, featuring a 26-point showing from Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale, who will go against the Olympians again Saturday.

Wilson, Gray and Stewart were on that 2021 team, which went on to win a seventh consecutive gold medal for the U.S. in Tokyo. But there are first-time Olympians on the 2024 squad, including Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu and Kahleah Copper. Plum and Young are also first-timers on the 5-on-5 team, having previously competed in the 3x3 Olympic competition.

While the Team USA men’s basketball team is drawing comparison to the 1992 Dream Team, Wilson said she thinks the women have a unique title.

“I think we’ve got to be (called) ‘The New Wave,’” she said. “In Tokyo, we had a lot of vets, in a sense, that had been (to the Olympics) a couple of times. I think this time, we have fresh new faces. Obviously we have (Diana Taurasi) and (Brittney Griner) and everyone else, but we still just have a new wave.”

Aces’ All-Star influence

Wilson described the experience of being an All-Star during an Olympic year as “just really chaotic.” There are countless media obligations and events for the players, in addition to intricate brand activations that require their presence.

Some of those events have been directly impacted by the Aces’ influence.

The Aces unveiled a 64,000-square-foot practice facility and team headquarters located next door to the Raiders’ headquarters in Henderson in April 2023. At the time, it was a first-of-its-kind building.

The Phoenix Mercury, the All-Star Game hosts, opened their new 58,000-square-foot, $100 million practice facility Thursday. It features two courts with a logo of Taurasi, who has been in the league since 2004.

“You had Mark (Davis) as an owner being like, ‘OK, let’s make sure that they have a state-of-the-art facility.’ And so it raises the level for other owners to do the same,” Gray said. “So to know that we’re part of that change, like the initiator of that change, is cool. We’re thankful to Mark to be able to do that. And so hopefully it’s raising other owners’ awareness to be able to do that as well.”

Colie Edison, the WNBA’s chief growth officer, spoke about the Aces’ impact Thursday as the league previewed its third WNBA Live offering, a fan festival that features player appearances among many other events.

The event was hosted in 2023 at Mandalay Bay and increased its footprint in a larger space at the Phoenix Convention Center. Sponsorships also were increased from 13 in Las Vegas to 24 in Phoenix.

“What Vegas showed us is that fans expect more from brands,” Edison said. “So we pushed our partners and ourselves as a brand to meet them where they are, and that’s why you’re seeing this level of activation that you see here today.”

Contact Callie Lawson-Freeman at clawsonfreeman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.