A’ja Wilson's World Cup Absence: Health vs. Criticism
LAS VEGAS — A’ja Wilson is sitting out the FIBA women’s World Cup, and the noise around that decision has grown louder by the day. Inside the Las Vegas Aces’ practice gym, the priority is quieter and far more basic.
Get their superstar right.
“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.”
The calendar gives the Aces a brief window. The WNBA schedule resumes on Sept. 17, and Hammon expects Wilson to be ready to anchor one more late-season push. Four regular-season games remain. Four chances to lock down the third seed and roll into another title chase with their franchise player as close to whole as possible.
“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.”
World Cup absence, loud reaction
Wilson and former Aces guard Kelsey Plum were both late withdrawals from USA Basketball’s World Cup roster. On Monday, Aug. 31, USA Basketball announced that Washington Mystics players Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron would replace them, just days before the U.S. opened play in Berlin on Friday, Aug. 31.
Team USA cruised through group play at 3-0. The debate back home didn’t slow down.
Wilson’s decision drew pointed criticism from some media voices, who questioned whether health was the real reason she stayed home. Former ESPN host Linda Cohn went further, suggesting on her show that Wilson’s absence came from “insecurity” rather than injury.
“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. "Could there be some insecurity, dare I say? ... If A'ja 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. One of the most forceful responses came from Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.
"Linda Cohn owes A'ja Wilson a public apology and a retraction," King 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 Cohn’s remarks directly, but she didn’t need much prompting to defend her star — and to point out a double standard.
“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.”
History backs her up. LeBron James last played in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2006, when he helped Team USA to bronze in Japan. That was his only World Cup appearance as he chose to emphasize Olympic runs and NBA recovery in the summers that followed. Stephen Curry hasn’t played a World Cup game since 2014, when he won gold.
Top NBA names routinely choose rest or the Olympics over the World Cup, a trend that became a national talking point when a U.S. team led by Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson finished fourth at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Wilson, Hammon argues, is being judged on a different scale.
Aces walk the line between urgency and health
Inside the Aces’ camp, there were warning signs about Wilson’s health well before USA Basketball announced the World Cup roster changes.
She appeared on the Aces’ injury report twice in the week leading up to her withdrawal with a back issue. Before that, she 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 of Wilson at the time.
The tension has been obvious: protect the most dominant player in the league, yet still fight for playoff position. When asked why Wilson and the Aces’ other stars weren’t rested in a 101-78 win over the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 20, Hammon didn’t sugarcoat it.
"Have you seen us play lately?" she said. “We need to start getting our [expletive] together."
The numbers backed her frustration. Before that blowout of Connecticut, the Aces had dropped four of six, wobbling at a point in the season when they usually surge. Seeding still hung in the balance, and every minute Wilson played came with a calculation: risk vs. rhythm.
Complicating matters further, forward NaLyssa Smith was ruled out for the rest of the 2026 WNBA season on Aug. 27. That injury stripped another interior presence from Las Vegas’ rotation and guaranteed even more defensive attention on Wilson whenever she’s on the floor.
The front office moved quickly. On Aug. 29, the Aces signed 6-foot-7 center Kalani Brown, a physical presence designed to soak up some of the punishment usually reserved for Wilson and to give Hammon another big body in the paint.
When Brown was introduced, Aces general manager and president Nikki Fargas didn’t downplay the expectations.
She said Brown will “be very impactful immediately,” then widened the lens to what Wilson and her peers endure.
“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.”
So Wilson stays home from Berlin. The discourse rages on. The Aces, meanwhile, tape up, retool, and wait for Sept. 17 — betting that a fresher A’ja Wilson in Las Vegas will matter far more than any storm she skipped overseas.
