Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson was declared “out” with a right leg injury for Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup championship game against the New York Liberty, the team announced.
Wilson came down awkwardly on her right ankle in the fourth quarter of the Aces’ 107-99 win over the Chicago Sky on Sunday. She spent a few minutes in the Aces’ locker room before returning to the game, finishing with 30 points and 15 rebounds.
Although Wilson is being held out of the championship game, Aces coach Becky Hammon does not expect it to be a long-term absence from the lineup.
“I think there’s something to be said for when you’re in the moment, you’ve got some adrenaline, the joints are all very warmed up,” said Hammon. “It’s when you get off the court that you realize you probably tweaked it a little worse than you originally thought.
“She doesn’t like sitting out. There’s a toughness factor to her that is hard to replicate.”
Wilson has only missed 14 games in her career and is the MVP frontrunner, averaging a league-leading 25.7 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game.
Despite the absence of her star player, Hammon expects the rest of her lineup to fill the void on both sides of the ball.
“At the end of the day, they’ve got to bring the juice and execute the messaging and hold each other accountable for the messaging. They’re a really professional group,” Hammon said. “They understand they’ve been in big games. They’ve been in big moments. So there’s a lot of trust.
”I think, in both directions there with them and myself.”
The only time these teams met without Wilson in the lineup, the Liberty defeated the Aces 75-71 in New York in September 2024.
