The US Olympic women's basketball team is competing for their seventh consecutive [1] — and ninth overall — Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, and while the team's roster is stacked with talent [2], first-time Olympian A'ja Wilson has been a standout throughout the tournament. That's hardly a surprise to anyone who has followed her career. Just two years after the WNBA named her Rookie of the Year, the 24-year-old South Carolina native and current Las Vegas Aces forward earned the league's coveted Most Valuable Player award, and she's established herself as a force to be reckoned with off of the basketball court as well. Here's what you should know about this inspiring athlete.
She Was Coached by Her Dad as a Kid
A'ja isn't the only athlete in her family. Her father, Roscoe Wilson Jr., played basketball professionally in Europe for more than a decade, but according to A'ja, her own ability didn't come as naturally. "I wouldn't necessarily say that I was always good [3]," she confessed during a November 2020 appearance on NPR's Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! "And my dad was my coach. So I knew I was not good at basketball when my own father wouldn't play me." However, she said that being benched "helped me, because I was like, OK, I got to earn my dad's trust right now."
During a July 2018 interview with Women's Hoops World, Roscoe agreed that it took some time for A'ja to hone her skills. "When she played AAU, she was absolutely terrible [4]," he joked. "So I said 'A'ja, this is costing me $5,000. You've got to show me something.' I told her I would give her one more year, that I would work with her." However, he saw potential in his daughter and pushed her, and he eventually became her skills coach and trainer.
She Was Named After a Steely Dan Album
During his interview with Women's Hoops World, Roscoe revealed that his daughter's name was inspired by an album of the same name. "I went to a Steely Dan concert in either Sweden or France [5]," he recalled. "I always liked Steely Dan, and at the concert they had this album Aja, in 1977. I just like the song, 'Aja.' And the name, simple — you spell it backwards, forwards, same thing. I said, back then, if I ever have a daughter, I'm going to name her Aja."
A'ja (pronounced "Asia") later confirmed this story during her appearance on Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! "That was my dad's favourite song [6]," she said. "He would always play it. And he told my mom, if you were to ever have a daughter, you will name her A'ja. And when I was born and my dad was like, OK, A'ja, it is."
She Founded a Nonprofit That Helps Kids With Learning Disabilities
Growing up in Columbia, SC, A'ja struggled in school, but it wasn't until her sophomore year of high school that she was diagnosed with dyslexia. "I've battled with it probably longer than I've probably known of it [7]," A'ja said of her dyslexia during a March 2021 interview with CBS News. "I really didn't pay any attention to it. I was going through it in high school and my parents just thought I was a lazy teenager that just didn't study. I knew I put too much work in for me not to get the results that I deserved." And though she eventually got the resources she needed, A'ja added, "I battle with it still to this day."
Even after being diagnosed, A'ja kept her dyslexia hidden from most of her peers and teammates, but she eventually opened up about her struggles [8] in a personal essay, published in the Player's Tribune in March 2018. The following year, she launched the A'ja Wilson Foundation [9], an organisation that provides resources for kids with learning disabilities. As she explained to POPSUGAR in January 2020, the foundation is not just about helping those with dyslexia. "It's also getting teachers registered and clear to know how to scan kids with learning disabilities," she said. "Not necessarily the tree, but the root itself [10]."
She's Been Vocal About Mental Health
A'ja spoke about her anxiety and depression in another personal essay, published in the Player's Tribune in March 2021, revealing that she'd begun suffering panic attacks after facing defeat in the 2020 WNBA finals. "Yes, I battled depression [11]. After an MVP season. Yes, I had panic attacks. After an MVP season," she wrote. "That's not weakness. It's not a sob story. It's just real." And though she kept her struggles to herself, she eventually decided to seek help.
During her March 2021 appearance on CBS News, A'ja talked about the relief she felt in being able to share her experiences. "Mental health is always something that's really tough to talk about [12]. But I'm glad that athletes that are on a platform can share our stories in a way to show people that we're all going through it," she said. "The biggest thing how I deal with it is just understanding that I have to feel the feelings . . . I think I got caught up in trying to face and be that person that each fan or each person wanted me to be, and that's just physically impossible."
She Has a Statue Dedicated in Her Honour
On January 18, 2021, as part of her alma mater's observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a statue of A'ja was dedicated near the main entrance to the University of South Carolina's Colonial Life Arena. For A'ja, the moment was particularly surreal, considering her late grandmother couldn't even set foot on USC's campus during segregation. "When people see that statue, I want them to think about the person I've been within my community [13], not just what I've done in the arena," she told InStyle during a June 2021 interview. "It's all about leaving your legacy."
A'ja credits her grandmother, her parents, and all those who came before her [14] for all her success at USC, where she was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and graduated in 2018 with a degree in mass communications. "For me to accomplish as much as I have at the University of South Carolina, it probably wouldn't have even been into play if I didn't have those people like my parents and my group planting those seeds for me to succeed," she told CBS News in March 2021. "So when it comes to that statue, I know it's so much bigger than the basketball accolades."