A’ja Wilson did not ease into media day.
Instead, she arrived with a new look, a new color and the same old warning for the rest of the WNBA.
After silver and pink looks in past seasons, Wilson went deep red for 2026, calling it a “Jean Grey type of vibe” inspired by the powerful X-Men character.
“She is a superhero that is pretty powerful,” Wilson said. “My shoes match it.”
For Wilson, the hair was not just a media day flex. It was part celebration, part personality and part signal that the season is here.
“Just something about changing my hair a little bit for media day,” Wilson said. “I think it brings me a little bit of joy that the season’s beginning.”
A brand bigger than basketball
Wilson enters the season after what she called a “very blessed” offseason, one that included her first European tour with Nike and the continued rollout of her A’One and A’Two sneaker lines.
At the same time, stepping away from basketball helped her return renewed.
“It gives me a nice type of renewal,” Wilson said. “It makes me miss the game a little bit, to come back and be kind of fresh.”
Wilson also leaned into the 1990s nostalgia behind her brand, saying the era shaped her and gave her images of Black culture that still matter to her today.
“I’m a ’90s baby,” Wilson said. “I wanted to bring that piece into my brand because it’s literally a piece of me.”
Now, that piece lives far beyond the court. Wilson has become one of the league’s biggest cultural forces, a player whose shoes, personality, humor and championship resume all feed into the same image.
She is not just launching sneakers. She is building a brand world around her voice, style and championship résumé.
A bigger league, a bigger A’ja
Wilson’s media day look landed at the perfect time.
The WNBA is entering a new financial era after a landmark CBA raised the 2026 salary cap to $7 million and created a path for true million-dollar WNBA stars. The league said the new agreement is projected to deliver more than $1 billion in player salaries and benefits over seven years.
Wilson is already there.
She reportedly signed a fully guaranteed three-year, $5 million supermax deal with Las Vegas, the largest contract in WNBA history. Reuters reported the deal after ESPN first reported the terms.
That does more than keep the Aces’ centerpiece in place. It also puts a real number next to what has already been obvious: Wilson is one of the defining players of this WNBA era.
Because of that, the Jean Grey look felt less like a costume and more like a statement.
Power in the hair. Power in the brand. Power in the contract. Power in the standard.
Retooled, not rebuilt
The Aces are not starting over. They are adjusting around a championship core.
Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd give Las Vegas its foundation. NaLyssa Smith adds frontcourt punch. Chennedy Carter brings speed and pressure. Stephanie Talbot, Brianna Turner, Janiah Barker and Jordan Obi give the training camp group a different kind of depth.
For Las Vegas, that is the balance: keep the standard, but add enough new energy to survive a league that keeps getting deeper.
Wilson said there was no dramatic group pact to run it back. Instead, she simply made her position clear first.
“I was the first one to kind of be like, ‘Well, I ain’t going nowhere,’” Wilson said.
From there, the rest followed.
Wilson said players want to be part of what Las Vegas has built.
“People want to make history,” Wilson said. “People want to be a part of this legendary run that we’ve been on since I’ve been drafted in this league.”
Carter adds electricity
One of the biggest new pieces is Carter, who gives the Aces another downhill scorer and transition threat.
Wilson said Becky Hammon brought Carter’s name to her, and the two were on the same page.
“I feel like Chennedy could be someone that could bring an excellent spark off the bench for us,” Wilson said. “You never want to be on the other side of the basketball when it comes to her.”
Wilson also remembered what it felt like when Carter was on the other side.
“I was an opponent against her when she fried us,” Wilson said. “So it’s pretty cool to have her in the locker room now. So she won’t be frying us. She’s actually going to be frying other people with our jersey on.”
Carter described her own game in one word: “electrifying.”
“I feel like if you put me in a scenario, it’s exciting,” Carter said. “If you take me out of a scenario, it’s not exciting anymore.”
She said her job is to make life easier for Wilson, Gray, Young, Loyd, Smith and the rest of the Aces by pushing pace, attacking in transition and giving Hammon more lineup flexibility.
“I feel like I’m one of the best in transition,” Carter said. “We’re going to be able to see that this season.”
A fresh start in the right locker room
Carter also spoke like a player who understands the opportunity in front of her.
After playing overseas, she said she grew, sharpened her focus and blocked out noise back home.
“I was focused on me,” Carter said. “I was grinding. I got better. I grew. And I’m back.”
Carter said her conversations with the Aces were not about old headlines or old baggage. Instead, they were about now.
“Anything that is focused on here, today, tomorrow, that’s all we were focused on,” Carter said.
That matters for Las Vegas.
The Aces do not need Carter to be something she is not. They need her to pressure the ball, run the floor, score in bursts and give the second unit real bite.
If she does that, she changes the shape of the roster.
Still greedy
Wilson has won plenty, but comfort is not part of the plan.
When asked what still drives her, she gave the real answer first.
“I like making people mad,” Wilson said. “I like proving people wrong.”
Then came the bigger answer: the kids watching her.
“If I can just have a young boy or young girl just have an opportunity to dream and believe that they can do something, that’s truly what makes me keep going,” Wilson said.
Wilson also spoke about the new CBA with pride, but not satisfaction.
“I’m grateful, but I’m greedy,” Wilson said. “This is just the beginning.”
That line might be the whole season.
The Aces have the trophy, the star, the money and the target. Still, Wilson made one thing clear: they want more.
The league keeps coming
Wilson said the rising talent level around the WNBA does not make the chase more difficult in a negative way. Instead, it makes the league better.
“We want the league to be talented,” Wilson said. “We want it to be a dog fight every single night.”
At the same time, she made clear that the Aces understand what comes with winning.
“There’s a target on our back,” Wilson said. “There’s going to always be one, but we have to stay true to us.”
That is the thread running through everything Las Vegas said at media day. New hair, new players, new money and a new league landscape all surrounded the day. Still, the Aces’ standard sounded the same.
Bottom line
The hair changed. The league changed. The money changed. The roster changed.
The expectation did not.
Wilson showed up to media day looking like a superhero. But the Aces do not need fantasy to explain where they stand. They are defending champions, deeper again and still carrying the same standard into another season.
The rest of the WNBA is chasing. Las Vegas is trying to stay greedy.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
