Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green believes that two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson deserves more credit for generating hype around the league than she’s being given.
Green waded into the discourse surrounding the marketability and increased attention on the league ever since the arrival of Indiana Fever phenom Caitlin Clark.
The NBA star believes that the league hasn’t found a way to properly market Wilson and described her as a ‘goldmine’.
‘I’m not saying Caitlin Clark is the best thing since sliced bread, quite frankly. If you want my opinion, that’s A’ja Wilson,’ Green said on an episode of his podcast.
‘If you want my honest opinion, best thing since sliced bread in the WNBA, to me, is A’ja Wilson.’
Draymond Green believes that the WNBA is sitting on a goldmine that they haven’t tapped yet
Green believes that A’ja Wilson (R) is by far the league’s top star – and not Caitlin Clark (L)
Wilson was the top overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and was named Finals MVP after leading Las Vegas to back-to-back league titles back in October.
‘A’ja Wilson is great,’ Green said. ‘And by the way, A’ja Wilson to me is the American dream. Come from a two-parent household, grew, got better, young Black girl, had everything against her, beat the odds to become what soon will be known as the greatest player to ever grace the WNBA. That’s quite honestly my opinion.’
He continued: ‘I think A’ja Wilson is as marketable as anybody in the WNBA, but you have to figure out how to market the product…
‘So, yeah I’m not going to sit up here and act like Caitlin Clark ain’t done nothing for the WNBA. That’s bulls**t. Yes she has. She’s going to continue to. No, I’m not of the assumption it’s only her.
‘I think y’all got a gold mine in the WNBA sitting right there, marketable as anybody in A’Ja Wilson and haven’t figured out how to make it go.
‘Ain’t A’Ja fault, by the way. Ain’t A’Ja fault. A’Ja got a lot about her that is as marketable as can be. And by the way, soon to be the best WNBA player to ever play.’
Wilson (22) is on track to win her third WNBA MVP after dominating the league so far
Last month, Wilson offered her thoughts on the ‘marketability’ debate after Clark – a rookie in the league – got a signature shoe before she did.
Wilson believes that Clark being a white player is ‘a huge thing. I think a lot of people may say it’s not about Black and White, but to me, it is.’
‘It really is because you can be top notch at what you are as a Black woman, but yet maybe that’s something that people don’t want to see.
‘They don’t see it as marketable, so it doesn’t matter how hard I work. It doesn’t matter what we all do as Black women, we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug. That’s why it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race because it is.’
Wilson looks to be on-track to re-claim the MVP Award she won in 2020 and 2022 as she currently leads the league in both points (27.9) and rebounds (12.4) per game.
