A’ja Wilson's Decision to Skip World Cup: Focus on Health

LAS VEGAS — A’ja Wilson isn’t in Berlin. She’s in Las Vegas, moving carefully through drills while the noise around her decision to skip the FIBA Women’s World Cup grows louder by the day.

Inside the Aces’ gym, the priority is clear: the four-time WNBA MVP’s body, not her critics.

“She’s needed some time, obviously,” Aces coach Becky Hammon told USA TODAY after Wednesday’s practice. “I still think she's dealing with some back stuff. Some days it's a little sorer than others.”

Hammon expects Wilson to be ready when the WNBA schedule resumes on Sept. 17, with four regular-season games left and playoff positioning on the line. Win out, and Las Vegas should lock in the No. 3 seed and head into another title chase with some momentum restored.

“For the most part, I think she's able to come out here and compete, and be there for her teammates, which is always her first priority,” Hammon said. “But I'm keeping an eye on her, you know? Even in this downtime.”

A World Cup without its biggest star

Wilson and former Aces teammate Kelsey Plum were both late withdrawals from Team USA’s World Cup roster. On Monday, Aug. 31, USA Basketball announced that Washington Mystics players Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron would replace them.

The timing was jarring. The news dropped just days before the Americans opened World Cup play in Berlin on Friday, Aug. 31. Team USA rolled through group play at 3-0, but the on-court dominance didn’t quiet the conversation off it.

The absence of one of the sport’s defining players rarely does.

Former ESPN anchor Linda Cohn used her platform to question Wilson’s motives, suggesting the decision came from “insecurity” more than injury management.

“Is there any part of A'ja that didn't want to spend the next couple of weeks watching the World Cup become the Caitlin Clark show?" Cohn asked on her show. "Could there be some insecurity, dare I say? ... If Aja Wilson has a back injury, then why did she play over 30 minutes a game in six of her last seven games and over 27 minutes in the other?”

Those comments detonated across social media. The backlash reached all the way to the King family.

"Linda Cohn owes A'ja Wilson a public apology and a retraction," Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., wrote. "What disappointing, delusional, and dangerous commentary targeting a great ambassador and GOAT athlete for the @wnba and for sports. Period."

Hammon said she hadn’t heard the remarks in full, but she didn’t hesitate to defend her star or the principle behind the decision.

“A'ja has every right to do what she feels is best health wise. And the other thing is, the men do this all the time,” Hammon told USA TODAY. “Can you name me any of the men's world championship rosters right now? Can you name me any person on there? What I’m saying is, LeBron (James) and those guys - if this was a man making this decision, there would be nothing to say. And that's my problem.”

The record backs her up. LeBron James played in one FIBA Basketball World Cup, in 2006, took home bronze, and never returned, choosing to focus on the Olympics and NBA recovery. Stephen Curry last suited up at a World Cup in 2014, helping the U.S. win gold, then stepped away from that event as well.

Across the NBA, the pattern is familiar: superstars guard their summers, manage their bodies, and circle the Olympics as the marquee international stage. The 2023 FIBA World Cup made that reality painfully obvious for USA Basketball, with a roster led by Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson finishing fourth and triggering a national debate about priorities.

Wilson’s decision sits squarely in that context. The reaction to it does not.

Pain, minutes and a team in flux

The late withdrawal surprised some. The signs were there.

In the week leading up to USA Basketball’s announcement, Wilson appeared twice on the Aces’ injury report with a back issue. Before that, she had already sat out the Commissioner’s Cup Championship, a 93-85 loss to the New York Liberty, with a right leg injury. She then missed games against the Chicago Sky on July 3 and the Indiana Fever on July 5.

“She wants to play. I’m not letting her play,” Hammon said at the time.

The competitive instinct hasn’t changed. Neither has Hammon’s resolve to throttle it back when necessary.

Even when Wilson did play heavy minutes, the Aces weren’t exactly cruising. They stumbled through a rough stretch in August, dropping four of six before a 101-78 win over the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 20. The standings demanded urgency. So did the film.

Asked why she hadn’t rested Wilson and the other stars in that blowout win, Hammon didn’t sugarcoat it.

"Have you seen us play lately?" she shot back. “We need to start getting our [expletive] together."

The reality was stark. Las Vegas, a two-time champion built around Wilson’s dominance in the paint, suddenly looked vulnerable. Defensive schemes tightened around her. The physical toll rose with every post touch.

Then came another blow. Forward NaLyssa Smith was officially ruled out for the remainder of the 2026 WNBA season on Aug. 27, stripping away a key frontcourt presence and guaranteeing Wilson would draw even more attention inside once play resumed.

The Aces moved quickly. On Aug. 29, they signed 6-foot-7 center Kalani Brown, a classic big body brought in to absorb contact, clog the lane and free Wilson from some of the constant pounding.

When Brown was introduced, Aces general manager and president Nikki Fargas made it clear this wasn’t a luxury move. It was triage.

She said Brown would “be very impactful immediately,” then widened the lens.

“I just want to say, there's a lot of pounding that goes on in this league. And there's a lot of expectations that are placed on these players,” Fargas said. “(With) the greatness that exists in A'ja at this time, the most important thing is is player health. And so as an organization, we want to make sure that we're leading in that way.”

That’s the calculation in Las Vegas: protect the franchise cornerstone now to extend her prime, and their window, later.

The Aces know what Wilson has already given — the minutes, the medals, the championships. They also know what they still expect from her when the WNBA tips back off on Sept. 17 and the playoffs loom.

The World Cup will end without her. The real judgment, for Wilson and for Las Vegas, arrives when the chase for another ring begins.