A’ja Wilson has started 285 of her 286 regular-season games across nine WNBA seasons. She has played through contact, fatigue, and the burden of being the most relied-upon player in the league. Missing time is not something she does willingly, especially right now when she does not want to miss time. But Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon isn’t giving her the choice.

“We don’t want to rush (Wilson) back. I think if this was a playoff game, she’d probably be playing,” Hammon said in the press conference before the Aces-Fever game. “She wants to play. I’m not letting her play,”

The loss against the Indiana Fever laid out what the Aces look like without Wilson. Jackie Young led with 15 points. But the team committed 13 turnovers. The Fever were also without Caitlin Clark, who sat out with a back injury. Kelsey Mitchell filled the offensive void for Indiana, scoring 27 points to lead the game. Hammon also described Wilson’s recovery as “day-to-day” and does not expect it to become a long-term issue.

Hammon’s caution isn’t unfounded. Wilson has been running at an MVP pace this season, averaging 25.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. She leads the league in scoring and blocks. Her true shooting percentage is 61.5% and her usage rate sits at 32.8%. When she is on the court, her defensive rating of 100.5 is among the best in the league.

The Aces won three titles in four years with Wilson at the center. That kind of production is what enables everything else around her. This explains the very reason why Hammon is willing to sacrifice regular-season games to protect it.

“She’s tough,” Hammon said on Friday, as per ESPN. “I want to protect her as much as possible. She really wants to play, and we’re not going to rush.”

Though Hammon does not want to start Wilson, the itch in her to be back on the floor is quite understandable. After all, missing games is something A’ja Wilson has hardly been used to.

Wilson Is Not Used To Missing Game Time

Wilson is in the ninth season of her career. But notably, she has only missed seventeen regular-season games in this time period. This is extremely rare for a player like Wilson, who has played over 30 minutes a match consistently in her career.

For a player like Wilson, putting in MVP-level performances day in and day out has probably become normal. But with the WNBA expanding the season to 50 games from next season, the Aces organization must put the health of their franchise player first.

The Aces have never had to build around her absence at length before. The current stretch is the closest they have come. With the WNBA expanding to more games, this would only add to the case for managing Wilson’s workload now rather than risking a deeper setback later.