A’ja Wilson is still counting her victories after winning the 2025 MVP Award and becoming the first player to win the award four times.
According to People, Wilson earned her first MVP trophy in 2020, followed by two more in 2022 and 2024, before adding this year’s prize to her outstanding career. She also won her second Olympic gold medal in Paris last year as part of Team USA.
In a romantic scene caught on camera and released by the WNBA, the WNBA star was at practice with the Las Vegas Aces when her boyfriend, NBA player Bam Adebayo, and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert surprised her with the 2025 MVP trophy to assist her in celebrating her victory.
As her teammates gathered her and applauded, Wilson appeared surprised, covering her mouth with her hands and falling to the ground.
Adebayo, 28, presented his girlfriend with the trophy after Engelbert described Wilson as “one of the greatest players ever” in the league’s history for her “grace” and leadership abilities. The Aces star carried her trophy and smiled for pictures with Engelbert and her family after receiving the surprise from her boyfriend.
In a sweet tribute to Wilson’s 2025 player photo, where she debuted her flamboyant pink hair, Wilson’s father and Aces owner Mark Davis also arrived at the Aces facility with pink wigs as a way to celebrate.
Meanwhile, when it comes to her love life, since summer 2024, fans have been secretly aware of Adebayo and Wilson’s affair. The two were seen dining together in Las Vegas during Team USA Basketball training camps in early July. Later that month, they were spotted shopping and dining together in Paris while competing for gold medals.
Wilson hinted at the relationship to People in February, admitting she was spending Valentine’s Day without her valentine.
Since Adebayo wasn’t selected as an All-Star, he was granted time off while the WNBA player was attending events during NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco. Wilson told People, “My NBA All-Star is not here,” and that Adebayo is “getting the rest he needs” over the break. “And that’s the best Valentine gift that I can truly give him, is just the rest,” she explained.
In response to People’s question about whether she and Adebayo were publicly referring to each other as their Valentine’s Day lovers, Wilson smiled and said, “I mean…,” before cleverly shifting the topic to Adebayo’s appearance on the field wearing her new signature Nike sneaker during a game a month prior.
Wilson and the Aces ended the regular season with a 16-0 run, and now they hope to add a third WNBA championship to their trophy collection. They defeated the Seattle Storm in the first round of the playoffs, and are now set to face the Indiana Fever on September 23 in Las Vegas.
Before making history with her fourth MVP Award on Sunday, 29-year-old Las Vegas Aces center Wilson and Minnesota Lynx forward Alanna Smith were selected as the 2025 Kia WNBA Co-Defensive Players of the Year on Thursday. This was Wilson’s third Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, and Smith’s first. This was also the first time in league history that more than one player shared the trophy.
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