Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson was recently spotlighted on Times Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people and spoke at the 2024 TIME 100 Summit alongside fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad on Wednesday. Wilson recently released a book entitled Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You, meant to use her experience to help young black women navigate their unique journeys. As she did in her book, she imparted valuable knowledge in her interview with sports media personality Pablo Torre.

Student-athletes in the college ranks are brands, often raking in hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in NIL deals. When asked about how she would handle her college career in the NIL era and how different her experience would been, she said, “Obviously, my bank account would be the biggest difference but I just couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I would have an agent in college.”

She then elaborated on the importance of being authentic in business dealings, emphasizing the need to stay true to oneself. “When it comes to big sponsorships…I'm like, well, you're gonna get me and I'm not changing that because that's what needs to be seen. Black women have been a force; when it comes to the WNBA, this is essentially an organization that was built on the backs of black women.”

Wilson also encouraged young athletes to prioritize their mental health.

“You have to protect your peace first; your brand is gonna come with that but your peace is what really matters.”

Wilson is a transcendent superstar in an era of the WNBA where the interest around the league is steadily growing. The viewership numbers for the WNBA have already been rising but a boom of interest is expected to occur following the addition of Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark and her draft class that features prominent names in college hoops over the past few years such as the Chicago Sky's front-court duo of Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.

Wilson believes that the interest in the game isn't a trend and she wants sustained support of women's basketball from fans.

“We see this a lot with young athletes,” Wilson said, specifically speaking about the surge of interest around Caitlin Clark. “Like ‘Oh my God, we love her!’ And then the minute it kind of shifts or her path is a little rocky, all that goes away.”

She added, “I hope that anyone’s invested and paying attention to it, continues to invest in it. Buy that jersey. Go to that game. Take someone else. Put your money where your mouth is and invest in these women.”

The WNBA season starts with the preseason on May 3rd. The regular season starts on May 14th, where Wilson and the two-time defending WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces take on the Phoenix Mercury. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.