A’ja Wilson reflects on WNBA and herself turning 30 this year
Aces star A’ja Wilson talks about the impact she’s had on the league as she approaches 30 years old along with the WNBA.
Sports Seriously
LAS VEGAS — Twelve weeks. Just 12 weeks.
That’s how long it took for the latest iteration of Chennedy Carter’s WNBA dream to take a familiar turn. It’s also the exact amount of time between the 5-foot-9 guard signing a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Las Vegas Aces in April and her being unceremoniously cut from the three-time WNBA champions. Rookie guard Justine Pissott, an Indiana Fever developmental player, was signed in a corresponding move on Tuesday, July 7. Carter was waived just ahead of the deadline that would’ve required her salary to be paid in full.
With the Aces, Carter wasn’t quite living the pro dream that ran through her mind as a child while she slept with a basketball next to her pillow — a ball gifted to her by her cousin, former WNBA guard Jia Perkins. The basketball would eventually live in a display case in her room, as she aspired to reach the league herself.
Carter was a lottery pick out of Texas A&M in 2020, but arrived in Las Vegas looking to move on from a past that saw her part ways with three other teams (Atlanta Dream, Los Angeles Sparks and Chicago Sky) on less than favorable terms. That path left her playing overseas for the entirety of the 2025 WNBA season. Accepting a backup role and a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Aces represented an opportunity for a fresh start.
“This is how I feel like I’ve matured. When I came to Chicago, I told (former Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon), ‘Listen, I know I’m gonna be a starter. I know I’m gonna play, and I’m not looking forward to no Sixth Man Award. I have bigger goals and bigger aspirations for myself,’” Carter recalled in an interview with USA TODAY after a practice in May. “Now I’m here, and this is something that I’m chasing, you know?”
At the time, the 27-year-old didn’t appear to have much chasing to do. Living up to her “Hollywood” nickname, she blazed back on to the court with 96 points over the first five games of the regular season for the highest-scoring stretch off the bench to start WNBA season. The 2026 Sixth Player of the Year award, one Carter admitted she never would’ve found joy in earlier in her career, seemed to already have her name on it.
So what happened?
When did Chennedy Carter’s role change with the Aces?
During training camp, Carter described signing with the Aces as the “best decision I’ve ever made in my life,” and consistently touted her happiness.
But even as she averaged 19 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game to start the season, there were questions about whether that contentment would last.
Her glum demeanor and abrupt exit from a press conference after the Aces beat the Dream 85-84 on May 17 was the first moment that raised eyebrows. It was Carter’s third 20-point game in five outings, but she wasn’t on the court in a close fourth quarter that saw the Aces win on a jumper from point guard Chelsea Gray.
“Obviously I want to help the team close in the fourth quarter if possible,” Carter said afterward. “I’m still going through it, I’m a little bit disappointed. Happy we won.”
In a separate presser that day, Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said she hadn’t spoken with Carter but Hammon wanted to play to the roster’s strengths and “continue to coach (Carter) up on the defensive end.”
Carter later took to social media to say she was dealing with family issues as fans questioned her attitude, and Hammon told USA TODAY she didn’t mind it.
“I have no problems with a player wanting to be out there. I tell all of them, sometimes it’s gonna be you, sometimes it’s not gonna be you,” Hammon said. “I thought she played great. She plays at a breakneck pace, and that’s what I’m asking her to do, is gas pedal. Every moment, she’s out there playing 94 feet on both ends. It’s exhausting.”
Carter’s role didn’t noticeably change until she went to social media again in the wake of the Aces’ 95-87 loss to the Dallas Wings on May 28. This time, the restlessness with her role was undeniable.
“Y’all can hollar (sic) at me when my leash is off, too. It’s completely unfair, even though statistically, it’s not even close,” Carter wrote as part of a longer response to fans criticizing her defense. Specifically in the spotlight were her struggles to lock down Dallas rookie Azzi Fudd, who’d scored 22 with Carter as her primary defender.
Carter played less than 10 minutes against the Golden State Valkyries in the Aces’ subsequent game. She was then sidelined for three games at the start of June with a left leg injury and came back for two games before being ruled out again with an illness. Carter was back again for the Aces on June 28 against Chicago and finished with 11 points.
Carter had 18 points in 25 minutes in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game as the Aces lost 93-85 to the New York Liberty but she was limited again in the Aces’ last two games, which would be her last.
After Carter logged four points in 11 minutes during a 98-90 overtime win over Chicago on Friday, July 3, Hammon was asked why Carter’s time was so short. Hammon cited “an executive decision there on what I liked and what was working,” in an answer that made it clear Carter’s health wasn’t at issue.
But then the Aces lost to the Indiana Fever 84-68 on Sunday, July 5, and Carter went scoreless in 15 minutes.
In that game, the tape shows a convergence of the two most glaring issues that characterized her tenure. Most of the Fever’s offensive highlights featured Carter looking lost on the court, and there were plenty of moments where her body language could be used to feed a preexisting narrative.
Were the Aces the best fit for Chennedy Carter?
Hammon was honest when asked how she would describe Carter as a person in May.
“I couldn’t answer that,”Hammon said. “I don’t have enough equity and time built in with her.”
What Hammon did know was Carter could provide much-needed scoring for her team with guard Dana Evans sidelined with a left left injury. A strong endorsement from Weatherspoon also didn’t hurt. Ultimately, with four-time MVP A’ja Wilson now missing her third game this season due to an ankle injury, Pissott’s 6-foot-4 frame offers more length in the rotation.
Still, it was evident that Hammon was trying to build something special with Carter in mind.
“Every morning I wake up and I think about how I can make A’ja (Wilson) great, how can I make Jackie (Young) great, how can I make Chennedy (Carter) great?” Hammon said in this season’s early days.
From Day 1, Hammon attempted to convey her commitment to Carter — ensuring her that she’d have her back.
“She just needs to know I’m fighting for her in rooms that I’m not in, you know, I want her to make it, I want her to be great, and I want her to want that same thing for herself,” Hammon said.
Hammon’s efforts didn’t pan out.
Can Chennedy Carter find another home?
“I don’t think people understand.”
That’s what Carter said as she opened up to USA TODAY about everything she was proud to have overcome in her basketball career, including her Adidas shoe deal “going bad.”
“Let’s be honest, I’m one of the most talented scorers in the world, and everything that I’ve had, I’ve had to work for,” Carter said. “I’m accepting it.”
Now at another crossroads, it’s unclear how much more difficult Carter’s path back to the WNBA will become.
The short stints that make up Carter’s tumultuous WNBA career have been marked by injuries, suspensions and controversy. Starting with a rookie season with the Dream that was limited by injury in an already shortened COVID-19 bubble season, Carter played 11 games with the Dream in 2021 due to disciplinary action from the team. After being suspended that July, she was traded to Los Angeles Spark in 2022. Waived before the 2023 campaign, Carter didn’t play in the WNBA that season. To date, Carter’s best season is 2024 with the Sky as she averaged 17.5 points in 33 games under Weatherspoon’s tutelage.
“The confidence that she has in herself, that no one can really understand, is because of the journey that she’s had to really take. And no one will really understand that journey,” Weatherspoon said of Carter on Amazon Prime’s broadcast ahead of that pivotal loss to the Wings. “She’s an awesome young lady, we all have our different ways of being.
“We all have things we might want to change and make better, and she’s done that”.
Carter delivered the infamous hard foul against Fever guard Caitlin Clark that made national news in 2024. Reports surfaced after the Sky fired Weatherspoon, after one season with a 13-27 record, that there was locker room friction due to favoritism.
But Carter wasn’t a negative locker room presence for the Aces early in the season, according to forward Kierstan Bell, who is often praised for her ability to keep the vibes high.
“We know she’s a great player, and we know the things in the past that probably hasn’t worked for her. But we allow her to be who she is, and I think that’s why she’s more comfortable,” Bell told USA TODAY. “Chennedy’s gonna be who Chennedy is. You either respect it or not. And we respect her, and we care for her.”
Carter has since cut ties with Bell and nearly the entire Aces team on social media, only continuing to follow Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, who has known Carter since their shared time in Atlanta.
A nightmare of unrealized potential looms if the Las Vegas Aces is where Carter’s dream ends.
