She stood at the elbow, eyes steady, feet set, the ball cradled in her hand like it always belonged there. Then came the glide—a left-handed layup through traffic, effortless and pure. When A’ja Wilson banked it in midway through the third quarter, it wasn’t just another bucket. It was the bucket. The one that made her the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 5,000 points. And the kicker? She did it in her own damn shoes.
Wilson reached the mountaintop in just 238 games—faster than Breanna Stewart (242), Diana Taurasi (243), and Tamika Catchings (282). But of course she did. This is A’ja Wilson. And nothing about her rise has ever been slow or subtle.
After the final buzzer of an 85–59 dismantling of the Connecticut Sun, Wilson walked off the court with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and a legacy that had once again deepened. When reporters asked what the moment meant to her, Wilson didn’t hold back.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs, but when you can hit a milestone like this, in a league like this, I can’t let it go unnoticed,” she said. “I’m grateful, I’m blessed. I’m so happy I got to do it in my Princess Tiana—Princess of New Orleans is my favorite movie.” She smiled, then added, “This was my first time ever wearing these shoes, and I’m definitely going to cherish this moment. It’s been a lot of fun, but obviously, we got a lot of work to do. So I gotta do more.”
Classic Wilson—even when the confetti’s falling, she’s already thinking about the next possession.
And yet, for all the stats and records she added to her résumé that night, her biggest statement wasn’t what she scored. It was what she wore while scoring her 5K.
A’ja Wilson talks about being the fastest to 5k in WNBA history pic.twitter.com/uu2VEWjASQ
— Moreau Sports Media Prod Co. (@MoreauSportsCo) June 26, 2025
Nike dropped the A’One “Pink A’ura” on May 6 of this year—Wilson’s first signature shoe—and it’s not just a product, it’s a personal archive.
From the pearlescent shade inspired by her grandmother’s jewelry to the Celtic knot honoring her parents’ union, the shoe is stitched with soul. On the tongue are her own initials, A.W., but every inch of the sneaker screams legacy. She said it best: “It’s me in a shoe.” Designed with elegance, worn with edge—it sold out in under five minutes. And it was these shoes that she scored her 5k in.
A’ja Wilson, in her A’Ones, Aced Connecticut
In fact, the reason A’ja Wilson was so stoked about scoring her 5,000th point in those shoes wasn’t just because she designed them—it’s because everything about the A’One is steeped in her story. Even the launch campaign carried her fingerprint: directed by Malia Obama, the video followed a young girl mirroring Wilson’s moves, stride for stride, until she finally slipped on the same signature sneakers. A passing of the torch—before Wilson even thought about letting go of the flame.
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When the A’One dropped at $110 on Nike.com, it sold out in under five minutes. The demand was instant, electric, fitting for a player who’s always been ahead of the curve. And somehow, the timing of Wilson’s milestone made it all even sweeter.
Las Vegas entered Saturday night needing a win to reset the tone of their season. What they got instead was a full-blown statement. Wilson came out like a storm, and the Aces exploded to a 19–0 run before the Connecticut Sun could even catch their breath. The Sun missed their first 10 shots and coughed up five turnovers before they finally put a point on the board with 1:58 left in the opening quarter. It didn’t matter. The damage was already done.
Wilson finished with 22, but she wasn’t alone in the takeover. Jackie Young added 20, Chelsea Gray chipped in a commanding 15 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three blocks, and Jewell Loyd hit three triples to add 13. The Aces were surgical from deep—11 threes on the night—and locked in defensively, holding Connecticut to just 32% from the field and a dismal 15% from beyond the arc.
It was their second straight win, fresh off taking down Caitlin Clark and the Fever, and it looked like the reigning champs had finally found their bite again.
“My signature shoe is everything I need—engineered for my game and my style, and built to motivate the next generation to go big,” Wilson wrote on Nike.com. And on this night, wearing the A’One, she didn’t just go big. She made history.
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