You could hear the air go out of the building. A’ja Wilson, the reigning MVP, clutched her face and headed straight to the bench. No flailing, no flopping—just pain. One minute, the Aces were still in it. Next, their heartbeat had left the floor.And as the Sparks lit up the scoreboard, Las Vegas unraveled. Now, the Aces aren’t just nursing a loss—they might just be bracing for a bigger shock to their system.
Midway through the third quarter of Wednesday’s game, A’ja Wilson went up to contest a drive from Dearica Hamby. She never came back down the same. As the two collided, Hamby’s elbow caught Wilson square in the face. The MVP immediately exited the game with 1:17 left in the third, holding a towel to her nose.
“She was bleeding,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon said postgame. “She’s (A’ja is) going to go to the doctor tomorrow and see what’s going on. I don’t have anything beyond that.”
According to Callie Fin on X, Hammon added, “I think she got elbowed by (Dearica) Hamby. I know she was bleeding. And I know she couldn’t come back.”
Becky Hammon said there isn’t much certainty with A’ja Wilson’s status until she visits a doctor tomorrow.
“I think she got elbowed by (Dearica) Hamby. I know she was bleeding. And I know she couldn’t come back.”
— Callie Fin (@CallieJLaw) June 12, 2025
Wilson had been battling on both ends, finishing with 13 points on 2-of-12 shooting, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks in 28 minutes. Her shooting was off, but her presence was vital—until it suddenly wasn’t. And the Aces unraveled.
Rickea Jackson dropped a career-high 30 points for the Sparks, while Hamby added 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in a statement game against her former team. Azurá Stevens chipped in with a double-double. On the other end, Jackie Young tried to keep Vegas afloat with a career-high-tying 34 points, and Chelsea Gray followed with 28.
But it wasn’t enough.
“We score 89 points, and we only had two good offensive production nights: Chelsea and Jackie,” Hammon said. “Everybody else were stinkers. The bench was a stinker. But 89 points should be enough to win a game. You can’t give up 50 points at halftime. We’re still searching for that 40-minute game. It’s like a damn unicorn.”
Now 4-4, the Aces are wobbling. They were blown out by the Golden State Valkyries just days ago, and now sit at .500. Jewell Loyd, last year’s scoring champ, continues to struggle, shooting under 30% from the field this season.
But nothing looms larger than Wilson’s health.
“The W” or the Ward? A’ja Wilson’s Injury Adds to Alarming WNBA Pile-Up
The funny thing is, Wilson isn’t alone in the number of injuries that have piled up in the WNBA in just 8-10 games the W has seen a lot of injuries. In just 8–10 games into the 2025 season, the league has been hit with a tidal wave of injuries. It’s starting to feel less like a basketball schedule and more like a triage unit.
May 28, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Aces forward Aja Wilson (22) competes during the first quarter against the Minnesota Lynx at Michelob Ultra Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s run through the damage:
Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever’s rookie sensation and league poster child, has been out since May 24 with a left quadriceps strain. She’s expected to miss at least two weeks.
Sophie Cunningham, another Fever guard, is also out with a right ankle injury. That’s both leadership and scoring out the window for Indiana.
Courtney Vandersloot of the Chicago Sky tore her ACL on June 7. She’s done for the year.
Tyasha Harris (Wings), Katie Lou Samuelson (Storm), Jordan Horston (Storm), and Georgia Amoore (Mystics)? All gone for the season with serious knee injuries.
Kahleah Copper (Mercury) had arthroscopic surgery on her left knee and is out 4–6 weeks.
Jonquel Jones (Liberty) is battling a sprained ankle. Megan Gustafson (Aces) has a lower leg injury with no timeline. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (Dream) is out due to pregnancy and won’t be back until August at the earliest.
And then there’s Paige Bueckers, who already missed four games with a concussion and illness.
Kalani Brown, Lindsay Allen, Leila Lacan, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Moriah Jefferson, Julie Allemand, Cameron Brink, and Rae Burrell are all listed out across multiple teams for various reasons—ranging from leg injuries to overseas commitments.
It’s a full-blown crisis.
And yet, the whistle hasn’t changed much.
In her podcast, Courtside Club, Rachel DeMita vented the frustration many fans and players felt abou the piling injuries a few weeks ago:
“I am always dumbfounded by how many times they call fouls on screeners and how many illegal screens are set in the WNBA…Essentially what the WNBA refs call is if you fall on a screen, I don’t care, if you’re a screener and you fall down, if you’re the one running into the screener and you fall down they will call a foul on the opposite person.”
Translation? There’s confusion and inconsistency in how physicality is being policed. And when screeners don’t feel protected, and defenders go flying without accountability, you’re asking for injuries. Add in the compressed travel, fewer rest days, and a physical game that’s only gotten faster? You’ve got a perfect storm.
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