LAS VEGAS Jewell Loyd doesnt do starstruck. Never has. Usually, those eyes only widen when the ball is in the Las Vegas Aces guards hands, or when shes locking in on defense. Her demeanor is too chill to gawk. Plus, her mentor was Kobe Bryant. Her friend group includes Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Kyrie Irving. She counts Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart as teammates. Loyd isnt easily impressed.
But she is curious. Some people whether entrepreneur or entertainer, activist or athlete intrigue her enough to study them. How they move. Their process and purpose. When she understands the foundation of their greatness, when she grasps what they put in, thats when shes impressed.
Following Las Vegas 91-78 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, Loyd was processing the greatness of Aja Wilson. Her eyes widened.
With Aja, she gives me that same wonder, said Loyd, who turned 32 on Sunday. I think it really starts from her heart, man. Everything she does, she does 100 percent. Its different than any superstar Ive ever been around. Its beyond just scoring. Its her impact. Theres not a lot of players that can produce intimidation. Its her presence. Its bigger than anything.
Eliteness has levels. Wilsons Game 2 performance 28 points and 14 rebounds in 32 minutes illustrated the distance between great and GOAT. The portrait is clear when both are on the same stage.
In a WNBA Finals series full of stars, none match the significance of Wilson. As the series shifts to Phoenix, her dominance looms. Her impact is simultaneously intangible and palpable. The attention she commands, her expertise on defense, the leadership she exudes, theyre at the core of the championship Aces. On top of that, Sunday was a steady flow of midrange jumpers, in-traffic rebounds and altered shots.
In the second quarter, Wilson seized control of the game. She inhaled and vacuumed the spirit out of the Mercury. Then she exhaled and blew Phoenix away, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds in just over eight minutes. Having properly distorted the Mercury out of shape, Wilson passed the mic to Jackie Young, who exploited Phoenix in the third quarter to end all suspense, scoring 21 of her 32 points in the frame.
Feeling reprieved from surviving a mediocre Game 1, thanks to the off-the-bench heroics of Loyd and Dana Evans, the Aces came into Game 2 with a heightened resolve. Especially Wilson. The two-time champ and four-time MVP senses moments as well as any. Sunday was about reestablishing their championship standard.
In doing so, Phoenix was confronted with a reality that alters their championship hopes. That beating the Aces means besting Wilson. And besting Wilson requires reaching a higher echelon. Sunday was a modern-day legend on a mission to stamp this era as her own and etching an apostrophe on the crown of all-time W supremacy. Shes now two wins away.
Its honestly a blessing to play with the best player in the world every day, Young said. For her to be able to show up every night, being double and triple-teamed obviously the focus is on her and shes still able to put up these numbers every night.
Shes the standard.
The refocusing came early in the second quarter, prompted by a blooper. Kahleah Copper was in a groove, Phoenix led, and Las Vegas was in need of a spark. Thats when Wilson caught a long outlet pass in traffic, snagging it from the Mercury defenders with her suction-cup mitts. She wound up all alone under the rim. But Wilsons layup went straight up and came straight back down like a failed science project. The traveling violation squandered what shouldve been an easy two.
Wilson bowed her head and wiped her face with both hands, as if to peel off the layer of mid that produced the malfunction. She kept her eyes pointed toward the floor and gave her hands a hard clap. Jarring alive the superstar.
I airballed a layup, she said during the halftime interview. So that kind of woke up all the little people in my mind.
Then she took over. Over the next seven minutes, the tenor of the series would change. Because Wilson simply decided to dominate, to lock in and be there for my team. And when she decided, the atmosphere of Michelob Ultra Arena, the momentum of the WNBA Finals, warped to her will.
The next time down, she isolated on Alyssa Thomas in the post. A reverse pivot and power dribble got Wilson to the middle, and she drilled the pull-up 10-footer. Plus the foul.
After blowing up the Thomas-Copper pick-and-roll with a deflection, Wilson went back on the attack on offense. She drilled a baseline jumper over Thomas.
About a minute later, Wilson swallowed up a rebound and, after the outlet pass, hustled down the middle of the floor. She beat DeWanna Bonner to the paint, receiving a pass from Chelsea Gray in stride. Wilson missed the runner, but got the rebound and scored the putback.
The next time down, Wilson pinned Thomas deep in the paint before dropping in a fadeaway.
It was an 11-0 run by Las Vegas that shifted the tide of Game 2, and the series. Wilson scored nine of them.
You can see it coming, Loyd said. It builds and ignites. When we need a bucket. When we need something of impact. Thats the greatness of players. They have a feel for the game. And its not doing it for the stats. Shes doing it to get us going. Shes not playing for the stats. Shes playing for the rhythm.
The WNBA instituting a seven-game finals for the first time ensures Phoenix is still alive in this series. But the Mercurys chances of winning it looked much grimmer following Game 2. Not just because Wilson dominated, but because she decidedly outplayed Thomas, the Mercurys best player.
Wilsons excellence is not just in the gorgeous lefty jumper, or the way she governs the paint. Its also her commitment to the little things, like running the floor hard and making the right defensive rotation and executing the simple pass. Its in her conditioning, the fluidity of her footwork, and her instinctual movement into the right spaces.
Its how she leads with joy and inspiration, balancing her fire-breathing intensity.
Just remember who you are, Wilson said, diving into one of her sermons, often aimed at Young. Remember who you are. Dont let any basket, dont let anything shake you from who you are and how far youve come and how hard youve worked to get to this point.
Thomas, a finalist for MVP, has been the engine of the Mercurys resurrection since signing with the Mercury this past offseason. Shes been the maestro of the Mercury offense, responsible for maximizing the matchup nightmares Copper and Satou Sabally can be.
But Wilson is anchoring a defense that is aggressively keying on Thomas. Las Vegas added a zone defense into its game plan, preventing Thomas from losing Wilson on screens. And when Thomas does make her way to the paint, the Aces guards are eagerly helping, digging down with reaches and swipes. Thomas has eight turnovers in two games.
The Mercury offense has had two damning dry spells as a result of Thomas not being able to break down the defense: most of the fourth quarter in Game 1, and a 10-point second quarter in Game 2.
The difficulty Phoenix is having on offense only underscores its struggles on defense. And the Mercurys primary issue is what to do with Wilson.
Obviously, Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said, wed love to keep her on Aja as much as we can.
But Thomas was overmatched Sunday against one of the greatest postseason scorers ever. Game 2 was Wilsons 29th playoff game with at least 20 points, tied with Breanna Stewart for second all time. Wilson is also fourth in playoff free throws made. She is the only player in WNBA history to post at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive WNBA Finals games. Shes done it twice now.
Defending Wilson put Thomas in foul trouble in Game 2, which was detrimental enough for Tibbetts to rethink whether he can afford to risk keeping Thomas on Wilson.
With just over seven minutes left in the third quarter, Wilson went at Thomas again. Despite having three fouls, Thomas was aggressive. She cut off Wilsons drive right, then beat her to the spot when she went left. She swiped at Wilsons dribble, knocking away the ball and getting Wilson on her back foot. Then Wilson re-gathered the ball and launched a fadeaway eight-footer while being smothered by Thomas.
The whistle blew. The rainbow shot splashed. Wilson flexed while yelling. It was a metaphor for Game 2, and perhaps for this series.
My job is to just make the shots difficult, Thomas said. Fouls today were called a lot differently. Just gotta adjust and keep going.
Somehow, Thomas, Copper and Sabally have to find a way to win four of the next five games. The Mercurys hopes of a championship require scaling Mt. AOne.
Its the rarest of air up there. Enough to widen eyes. Even Jewell Loyds.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
2025 The Athletic Media Company