A'ja Wilson Named 'TIME's' 2025 Athlete Of The Year

The women’s basketball boom has led to unprecedented growth in the sport and has fueled renewed popularity in the WNBA.

Atop that league is A’ja Wilson, and if the treasure trove of accomplishments wasn’t enough, she’s been named TIME’s 2025 Athlete of the Year.

The Las Vegas Aces star is a four-time MVP — the most in league history — three-time Defensive Player of the Year, most points in regular season history, seven-time All-Star, and two-time Olympic gold medalist.

And that’s all before turning 30, as she wraps up leading her Aces to their third WNBA championship in four years.

“When you’ve collected everything, that’s Thanos,” Wilson told TIME. “And this year, I collected everything. I don’t really talk much sh-t, I mean crap. I kind of let my game do it. This was my biggest moment of doing it, because no one’s ever done what I’ve done. And I think people really needed to understand that.” 

But it wasn’t an easy road to the Finals this year, as the team got off to a rough start, barely sitting at .500 by the season’s halfway point. The team could have easily given up and waited for the draft to bolster their squad, but instead buckled down and went on a 16-game win streak to end the regular season, earning the second seed.

After a tough first-round fight with the Seattle Storm, they had a nail-biting end to the semifinals, winning Game 5 of the series in overtime over the Indiana Fever. Suddenly, they were back in the Finals and swept the Phoenix Mercury.

For Wilson, it was a reminder to stay on her job before someone snatched her seat and the title.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to get knocked down to get built back up,” says Wilson. “I think 2025 was a wake-up call that I needed, to let me know that I can’t be satisfied with anything. There’s somebody out there that’s going to try to take your job. You need to make sure you’re great at it, every single day.” 

Wilson also spoke about her relationship with NBA player Bam Adebayo, saying they’ve been dating for four years since getting to know each other at the Tokyo Olympics.

When asked if they’ve thought about starting a family, she says, “That is always a dream. This is my life partner. Honestly, what on Earth was my world before you? That’s how much he’s impacted my life, my family’s life.”

With her marketability through the roof, she’s also one of the first women to get their own Nike sneaker, the A’One. In the process, she’s also gotten a stamp of approval from Nike lifer LeBron James, who’s seen from a personal level what Wilson means to women’s sports.

“I realized her greatest impact isn’t what I see, it’s what Zhuri sees,” he says. “A’ja Wilson is the definition of female Black excellence, and I am so grateful she is giving my daughter the kind of inspiration I got from Michael Jordan and Ken Griffey Jr.”

See social media’s reaction to the honor below.