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," 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," 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.