A'ja named best athlete in women's sports and the best player in the WNBA

Piscis

All-Conference
Nov 30, 2001
25,728
3,308
113
I'd like to see how she would do playing tennis or soccer or golf. As the "best athlete in women's sports" surely she would be great.
 

adcoop

All-Conference
Jan 10, 2004
1,867
1,816
113
I'd like to see how she would do playing tennis or soccer or golf. As the "best athlete in women's sports" surely she would be great.
Don't know about tennis, but she would probably be an elite goalie if she tried soccer with her length and agility. Also, this comment could be said about most elite athletes in a sport. I don't think you would want to see Mia Hamm try to play A'ja Wilson in basketball.
 
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bayrooster

All-American
Aug 21, 2003
15,582
8,009
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Don't know about tennis, but she would probably be an elite goalie if she tried soccer with her length and agility. Also, this comment could be said about most elite athletes in a sport. I don't think you would want to see Mia Hamm try to play A'ja Wilson in basketball.
Mia would be a midget next to Aja, so it wouldn't make sense to make that comparison.
 
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adcoop

All-Conference
Jan 10, 2004
1,867
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Mia would be a midget next to Aja, so it wouldn't make sense to make that comparison.
It probably would be the same as putting A'ja out as midfielder in soccer. There are some exceptions, but usually the soccer players out in the field of play are not that tall. My point was most top notch players would not look the same in another sport. For example, Michael Jordan worked hard and was improving in baseball, but he was never going to be an elite outfielder.
 
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DannyTree1

Sophomore
Jun 4, 2026
373
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I'd like to see how she would do playing tennis or soccer or golf. As the "best athlete in women's sports" surely she would be great.
She's great because her life and career has been spent trying to perfect her basketball skills.

I think such titles are created based on individuals competing in their best sport.
 

Uscg1984

All-Conference
Mar 9, 2006
2,699
3,522
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I think any time somebody enters into the discussion as the GOAT of their particular sport, it usually means that you're talking about a great athlete who also had the good fortune or ability to locate and hone in on the one sport in which they were absolutely born to do. I always think about Michael Phelps in these discussions. Had he grown up focusing on basketball, as a superior athlete with 6'4" height and even longer wingspan, chances are, he would have been a better than average basketball player. Probably good enough to play varsity in HS and maybe even good enough to get a college scholarship somewhere. But because he managed to find the one activity in which he was PERFECTLY suited to, he became the best Olympic swimmer in history.

In A'Ja's case, I suspect she would have been better than average in most any sport, due to her athleticism. But she obviously found the sport at which she would excel the most (not entirely unpredictable for a 6'5" woman, but still).
 
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rgamecock1

Freshman
Apr 19, 2003
46
62
18
Aja has really taken her game to an elite level. She helped USC get their first national championship in women's basketball. Alicia Welch was the first really good women's player to commit to USC and then Aja followed along with Alicia Gray. When Dawn took the USC women's basketball job a lot of people told her she would never win a national championship at USC. At one period of time Kelsey Bone came to USC and she left mainly because of the discipline that Dawn had, and she also mentioned that USC would never go to win a national championship. Anyway, Kelsey Bone transferred to Texas A&M where they did a national championship. But USC would go on to win 3 national championships, and it would have been 4 if it had not been for covid. In my humble opinion that really was Dawns best team. USC finished the year ranked number 1 in all the polls. With the recruiting class that just came in USC has a good chance of winning a national championship. Texas had the number 1 recruiting class and USC was number 2, UCONN is doing a really good job of bringing in international talent. All across the landscape of women's basketball teams are recruiting at a high level and of course the transfer portal with teams bringing in talent. UCLA last year had 5 players that were from the transfer portal. Aja was the main one that laid the foundation for USC to be a true-blue blood in women's basketball, and I will be ever grateful to her.
 

Forkcock

All-Conference
Feb 11, 2006
1,807
1,914
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She's very good. We're fortunate that she stayed home and played here.
 

CreekSnake

Junior
Jan 22, 2024
217
218
43
On the male side most people say either Bo Jackson or Deion was the best all around Athlete.Not only was Bo a phenomenal football player but he’s one of the few ever in baseball that could both hit and throw a baseball 400 feet.Had LeBron spent more time on the football field he might be in that conversation.
 

Freddie.B.Cocky

Joined Jul 19, 2002
Jul 19, 2002
122,057
2,858
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What ticks me off is Catlin Clark and S. Cunningham get all the glory in the WNBA when clearly A'ja Wilson is the best player in the sport.
 

Forkcock

All-Conference
Feb 11, 2006
1,807
1,914
113
What ticks me off is Catlin Clark and S. Cunningham get all the glory in the WNBA when clearly A'ja Wilson is the best player in the sport.

You think Caitlin Clark is getting all the glory? The league despises her and treats her like crap.
 

PrestonyteParrot

All-Conference
May 28, 2024
3,203
3,179
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You think Caitlin Clark is getting all the glory? The league despises her and treats her like crap.
In Clark's case, the word publicity is probably a better word than glory, and not the good kind.
As you mentioned, she's in the headlines mainly due to the abuse she gets with an occasional mention of the attendance crowds she draws.
 

CreekSnake

Junior
Jan 22, 2024
217
218
43
Megan Rapinoe is the most over hyped overrated person I’ve ever seen.She did very little in the actual creation of goals.All I ever saw her do was penalty kicks which somebody else created.Carli Lloyd and Mia Hamm both better players but keep their political opinions to themselves.
 

18IsTheMan

Heisman
Oct 1, 2014
20,654
17,562
113
Megan Rapinoe is the most over hyped overrated person I’ve ever seen.She did very little in the actual creation of goals.All I ever saw her do was penalty kicks which somebody else created.Carli Lloyd and Mia Hamm both better players but keep their political opinions to themselves.

Well, give her credit, she largely spearheaded the effort to get the women 50% of the earnings from the USMNT.

Women will never stop needing men to fuel their accomplishments.
 
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