A'ja Wilson's historic season for the champion Aces: MVP, scoring title, Finals MVP and much more

A’ja Wilson’s numbers in 2025 were like none other.

Nobody in the history of the WNBA — or the NBA, for that matter — has put together a season like the one Wilson did for the Las Vegas Aces this year.

She won the WNBA’s MVP award. Won the scoring title. Helped her team win a championship. Was the WNBA Finals MVP.

All that has been done in the same season before on the NBA level, most recently when Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pulled off the feat this past season. Michael Jordan did all that four times, while Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it once.

But they never did it while also reigning as the NBA’s defensive player of the year. Wilson shared that award in the WNBA this season with Minnesota’s Alanna Smith. And that makes her 2025 resume unprecedented.

“I think greatness is ...” Wilson said after the Aces beat the Phoenix Mercury to finish off a four-game sweep of the WNBA Finals on Friday night.

That’s when she got interrupted by Aces coach Becky Hammon.

“A’ja Wilson,” Hammon said.

There’s no question: Wilson’s numbers are greatness. And having accomplishments mentioned alongside the likes of Jordan seemed to blow Wilson away.

“It’s powerful, it really is,” Wilson said. “I still have a little more winning to do before you put me in the conversation with him, but when you’re compared to greats, when you’re compared to legends, that means you’re doing something right, and I am so grateful.”

A look inside the numbers, as Wilson continues cementing her status as one of the game’s all-time greats:

Consider this: Wilson has been a champion in each of the last five years — with six titles in that span.

She was part of the U.S. team that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics that were played in 2021, then captured a WNBA title and a World Cup gold medal in 2022, another WNBA title in 2023, another gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024 and now a WNBA title this season.

Wilson had 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and two steals in the title-clinching game on Friday night.

There have been only five games in WNBA history where someone did all that in one game. Candace Parker did it twice. Wilson did it the other three times.

It had never been done in the WNBA playoffs before Friday night.

Also, Wilson moved past Parker for No. 3 on the WNBA’s all-time playoff scoring list with her 31 points Friday. Wilson (who also passed Basketball Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings on that list Friday) has 1,171 points in her playoff career, 22 more than Parker and 30 more than Catchings.

The only ones left for Wilson to catch on the playoff scoring list: Diana Taurasi (1,486) and DeWanna Bonner (1,291).

Granted, seasons are longer now. But for the third straight year, Wilson set WNBA records for total points and total rebounds when counting both regular-season and playoff games.

She had 1,126 points in 2023, then 1,149 points in 2024 — and this year, 1,259 points.

The only other players with more than 1,000 points in a full season are New York’s Breanna Stewart (1,103 in 2023) and Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell (1,068 this season).

Wilson had 486 rebounds in 2023, 509 rebounds in 2024 and 527 this season. Stewart had 473 rebounds in 2023.

And Wilson finished the regular season averaging 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. She is the first player in WNBA history to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds twice; three other players have done it once.

Wilson had 114 points in this season’s WNBA Finals, a record. The previous mark: 110 by Phoenix’s Cappie Pondexter in 2007. Wilson played four games in these finals while Pondexter’s record came in a five-game series.

Wilson is now up to 336 points in WNBA Finals games, the third most in league history behind a pair of Hall of Famers — Maya Moore (441 in 25 games) and Seimone Augustus (362 in 25 games). Wilson has played 15 finals games.

Wilson’s totals of 322 points and 120 rebounds in this year’s playoffs are both WNBA records as well. The previous marks: 285 points by Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier last season and 116 rebounds by New York’s Jonquel Jones in 2023 (she played 10 games, Wilson played 12).

Wilson had five 30-point games in this season’s playoffs, the most in any WNBA postseason. The previous record was three, set by Wilson in 2023.

Wilson doesn’t turn 30 until next August.

No player in WNBA history has more total points (including playoffs) before turning 30 than Wilson, who is up to 6,890. Lauren Jackson had 6,223 before turning 30, which was the pre-30 mark before Wilson came along. (When factoring regular season only, Jackson remains No. 1 with 5,757 points, just ahead of Wilson’s 5,719.)

Wilson also has more rebounds before turning 30 — again, counting playoffs — than any other WNBA player. Tina Charles had 2,884 in regular-season games before turning 30, while Wilson is now at 2,495. But when adding in playoffs, Wilson is up to 3,039, just ahead of Charles’ 3,025.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, right, and A'ja Wilson (22) celebrate after defeating the Phoenix Mercury in Game 4 of the WNBA basketball finals, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) reacts after scoring against the Phoenix Mercury during the first half of Game 4 of the WNBA basketball finals, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson, center right, holds up her MVP trophy after Game 4 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Phoenix Mercury, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson reacts after a play against the Phoenix Mercury during the second half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

HAMIMA, Syria (AP) — A trickle of civilians left a contested area east of Aleppo on Thursday after a warning by the Syrian military to evacuate ahead of an anticipated government military offensive against Kurdish-led forces.

Government officials and some residents who managed to get out said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces prevented people from leaving via the corridor designated by the military along the main road leading west from the town of Maskana through Deir Hafer to the town of Hamima.

The SDF denied the reports that they were blocking the evacuation.

In Hamima, ambulances and government officials were gathered beginning early in the morning waiting to receive the evacuees and take them to shelters, but few arrived.

Farhat Khorto, a member of the executive office of Aleppo Governorate who was waiting there, claimed that there were "nearly two hundred civilian cars and hundreds of people who wanted to leave” the Deir Hafer area but that they were prevented by the SDF. He said the SDF was warning residents they could face “sniping operations or booby-trapped explosives” along that route.

Some families said they got out of the evacuation zone by taking back roads or going part of the distance on foot.

“We tried to leave this morning, but the SDF prevented us. So we left on foot … we walked about seven to eight kilometers until we hit the main road, and there the civil defense took us and things were good then,” said Saleh al-Othman, who said he fled Deir Hafer with more than 50 relatives.

Yasser al-Hasno, also from Deir Hafer, said he and his family left via back roads because the main routes were closed and finally crossed a small river on foot to get out of the evacuation area.

Another Deir Hafer resident who crossed the river on foot, Ahmad al-Ali, said, “We only made it here by bribing people. They still have not allowed a single person to go through the main crossing."

Farhad Shami, a spokesman for the SDF, said the allegations that the group had prevented civilians from leaving were “baseless.” He suggested that government shelling was deterring residents from moving.

The SDF later issued a statement also denying that it had blocked civilians from fleeing. It said that “any displacement of civilians under threat of force by Damascus constitutes a war crime" and called on the international community to condemn it.

“Today, the people of Deir Hafer have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to their land and homes, and no party can deprive them of their right to remain there under military pressure,” it said.

The Syrian army’s announcement late Wednesday — which said civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday — appeared to signal plans for an offensive against the SDF in the area east of Aleppo. Already there have been limited exchanges of fire between the two sides.

Thursday evening, the military said it would extend the humanitarian corridor for another day.

The Syrian military called on the SDF and other armed groups to withdraw to the other side of the Euphrates River, to the east of the contested zone. The SDF controls large swaths of northeastern Syria east of the river.

The tensions in the Deir Hafer area come after several days of intense clashes last week in Aleppo city that ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters and government forces taking control of three contested neighborhoods.

The fighting broke out as negotiations have stalled between Damascus and the SDF over an agreement reached last March to integrate their forces and for the central government to take control of institutions including border crossings and oil fields in the northeast.

Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, which was formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The SDF for years has been the main U.S. partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with Kurdish separatist insurgents in Turkey.

Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump administration has also developed close ties with the government of interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and has so far avoided publicly taking sides in the clashes in Aleppo.

Ilham Ahmed, head of foreign relations for the SDF-affiliated Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria, at a press conference Thursday said SDF officials were in contact with the United States and Turkey and had presented several initiatives for de-escalation. She said that claims by Damascus that the SDF had failed to implement the March agreement were false.

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Associated Press journalist Hogir Al Abdo in Qamishli, Syria, contributed.

Members of the Syrian military police stand at a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Members of the Syrian Civil Defense, stand next to their vehicles at a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A displaced Syrian family rides in the back of a truck near a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army next to a river in the village of Rasm Al-Abboud, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Displaced Syrian children and women ride in the back of a truck near a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Displaced Syrians at a river crossing near the village of Jarirat al Imam, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)