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Aces Roll, Wilson Snubbed for MVP

The Las Vegas Aces continue to roll in their postseason quest of back-to-back championships. The Aces opened the second round with two victories over the Dallas Wings in Games 1 & 2 of the WNBA Semifinals in front of the enthusiastic crowds inside Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay.

A'ja Wilson continues her dominating ways leading the Aces at both ends of the court. She scored 34 points on 15 of 21 shooting, tying a WNBA record for most field goals in a playoff game in Game 1 and followed that up with a 30-point effort in Game 2. Wilson has been on fire for most of this year and has scored in double figures in her last 17 games while scoring 30 or more points in six of the past seven contests. She also added another record by becoming the only player in WNBA Playoff history to score 30 or more points in three consecutive postseason games.

What the current 2-time Defensive Player of the Year is doing this year is off the charts in terms of all around play at both ends of the court. She had 40-point game and a WNBA historic night of scoring 53 to tie the all-time record.

However, despite all of those facts, Wilson did not receive enough votes or points to be named the league's Most Valuable Player. She didn't even finish second behind the winner, Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty. Absurdly, Wilson finished in third place behind Alyssa Thomas of Connecticut who received the second most points and had the most first place votes.

Becky Hammon is irate as our Wilson's teammates and anyone who follows the WNBA on a regular basis. You can hear Becky's comments, thoughts and pure logic here on this page with her interview with TC. It is pure gold and she is spot on.

Wilson has done everything imaginable and beyond to validate her MVP season. The facts are simple: "She is the most dominant player on the most dominant team on the most dominant offense in league history and anchors the #1 defense," exclaimed Hammon. Case closed.

Stewart had a fine season but her stats and what she has done this season doesn't compare to Wilson who averaged 23 points per game, 10 rebounds and had a league best 56% field goal shooting. Throw in most shots blocking while earning the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second straight season.

Wilson stats were better than Stewart in just about every category along with leading her team the best record and most victories in a season in WNBA history. "She put together the greatest season this league has ever seen," shouted Hammon.

With those astounding numbers, Wilson played 137 less minutes than Stewart which is equivalent to missing 3 1/2 games. What more could she do to win the Award? The answer is nothing. It was out of her control and unfortunately in the hands of voters who are comprised of 60 so called writers and broadcasters. This is where the problem lies.

There is east coast bias with a majority voters based there. There is no accountability, and the votes are not made public. Wilson received 17 first place votes compared to Stewart's 20 and Thomas' 23. How Crazy is that? What is more insane is that Wilson had 25 second place votes and 17 third place votes and get this... one voter gave her a fourth-place vote. That about sums up the malpractice of this procedure.

After the frustration began to subside, all Wilson did was go out and lead her team to another hard-fought victory where she dominated at both ends of the court and willed her team to their eighth straight win.

The Aces are laser focused and definitely have a chip on their shoulder. This could be the fire that fuels them to back-to-back titles. That and the real MVP is on their team.