Gamecocks legend A’ja Wilson adds more big wins at 2026 ESPY Awards
South Carolina women’s basketball star A’ja Wilson cleaned up at the 2026 ESPY Awards ceremony Wednesday night.
Wilson added to her ever-growing résumé by winning two awards at ESPN’s annual sports award show: Best WNBA Player and Best Athlete (Women’s Sports).
Wilson beat out Hilary Knight (US hockey), Mikaela Shiffrin (alpine skiing) and Nelly Korda (golf) for the best women’s sports athlete win. Wilson won the Best WNBA Player award over Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Alyssa Thomas (Phoenix Mercury) and former Gamecock teammate Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream).
This is the third time in Wilson’s career she has won the ESPY for best WNBA player (2023, 2024, 2026) and the second time she’s been named the best athlete in women’s sports (2024 and 2026).
The awards come after Wilson’s immaculate 2025 season. Wilson led the Las Vegas Aces to their third WNBA championship in the last four years. Wilson averaged a double-double with 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. She also tallied 3.1 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.6 steals per game.
Those numbers helped Wilson earn back-to-back MVP awards and become the only player in league history to be named MVP four times in their career. Wilson also earned her third Defensive Player of the Year Award win, sixth All-WNBA selection and seventh All-Star nod.
Wilson ended 2025 by becoming the first player in WNBA or NBA history to win regular season MVP, Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and the scoring title in the same season.
Wilson has kept the momentum going into the 2026 season. She leads the WNBA in scoring with a 25.5 points per game and is also bringing in 9.8 rebounds a game. Wilson earned her eighth All-Star selection earlier this month and will start in the WNBA’s All-Star Game in Chicago on July 25.
This story was originally published July 16, 2026 at 9:56 AM with the headline "Gamecocks legend A’ja Wilson adds more big wins at 2026 ESPY Awards."
