WNBA Finals MVP A'ja Wilson joins Sports Illustrated to promote her book Dear Black Girls available everywhere February 6.
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00:00 All right, I am here with the sensational legendary,
00:03 Miss Asia Wilson, who's here with a new book
00:07 and memoir, "Dear Black Girl."
00:08 Super excited to talk to you.
00:10 How are you doing today?
00:11 - I'm doing well, I'm doing well.
00:13 How about yourself?
00:14 - You know, another day, another dollar, right?
00:16 (laughs)
00:19 I gotta ask you though,
00:20 what championship celebration did you enjoy the most?
00:23 I'm assuming it's this one, just 'cause of Usher,
00:26 but you tell me.
00:27 - Yeah, definitely had to be the second one,
00:28 'cause I feel like the first one,
00:29 I was trying to gather myself,
00:31 trying to figure out what I need to do.
00:34 But then the second one, we were prepared.
00:35 We were ready, we were good.
00:37 We were locked in.
00:38 So yeah, the second celebration was definitely it.
00:42 We had two chains at our parade.
00:44 It was big, it was big.
00:46 - No, I bet.
00:47 It's definitely big.
00:48 It's just crazy.
00:50 You brought the first title to this team.
00:52 That's insane.
00:53 How do you feel about that?
00:54 - It's incredible.
00:55 I mean, just to be able to bring one, let alone two,
00:58 is definitely a blessing.
00:59 We had tons of fun.
01:00 I mean, they always say the second one is the hardest,
01:03 and we definitely felt every part of that.
01:06 It's definitely a lot of fun to say
01:07 I was a part of the first team,
01:08 but the back-to-back team definitely held some weight.
01:11 - How do you think this championship run,
01:13 the Ace of Success,
01:14 has impacted the state of women's basketball?
01:16 Because I gotta tell you, it has dramatically impacted.
01:20 But what do you think about it?
01:21 And you're at the forefront of it all.
01:23 - Yeah, it's super fun.
01:24 It really is.
01:25 I mean, when you look at leagues across the board
01:27 in any sport,
01:28 rivalries are something that fuels the league.
01:30 Everyone loves a good, "We don't like them,
01:32 but we like them," type of thing.
01:33 And for us to grow that throughout our final series,
01:36 throughout just the Aces in itself,
01:39 it's been fun to watch.
01:40 And I mean, that's what everyone loves.
01:42 We're giving back.
01:43 We see a lot of college teams,
01:44 like everyone's getting put on the map,
01:46 and that's what it is.
01:47 So we're growing, we're flourishing.
01:48 So I'm glad to be a part of it.
01:50 So later on down the road, when I'm talking to my kids,
01:52 I can be like, "Yeah, mama put up those banners.
01:55 Like, she got some things to her."
01:56 So I'm glad to just be a part of it.
01:59 - Now I'm gonna go with something a little bit more serious
02:01 for five seconds here.
02:02 Nate Tibbetts just got hired by Mercury.
02:05 He's the highest paid coach in the league,
02:07 I think in league history, if I'm not mistaken.
02:09 But he's never been a head coach before.
02:11 What are your thoughts on a man being the highest paid coach
02:16 in the WNBA?
02:18 - Wow, that is a hard hitter.
02:21 - I know, that one's a hard one.
02:23 (Nate laughs)
02:24 I mean, it's honestly one of those things
02:26 where we just have to continue to push the needle
02:29 and continue to shatter the glass ceiling
02:30 that is obviously over us.
02:32 We're gonna take it day by day and step by step.
02:34 But my biggest thing is,
02:35 it doesn't matter how much he's getting paid.
02:37 It doesn't matter what is in his bank account.
02:39 I hope that he's in a situation
02:41 where he's gonna pour into the team.
02:43 I think that's the biggest thing is like,
02:45 we need owners, coaches, GMs, anyone to pour into their team
02:48 because that's truly what matters.
02:50 You can have all the money in the world,
02:51 but if you're losing,
02:53 it's not really a lot of happiness there.
02:55 So at the end of the day,
02:56 I can't really talk about that man's bank account.
02:58 Don't really care about it.
02:59 I just hope that he is pouring into that team
03:01 because they got some weapons they deserve,
03:04 and every woman in our league deserves to be poured into,
03:06 to bless, to have great resources to use them.
03:09 So I would much rather just say,
03:12 use your seat at the table in a good place
03:14 and put your team in a good space.
03:15 So if that's the case, then that is.
03:17 Other than that, I don't care about that man's bank account.
03:20 (Nate laughs)
03:21 - I do wanna get into your memoir really quickly.
03:23 "Dear Black Girls."
03:24 Tell us a little bit about that.
03:26 - Yeah, well, I have to give a special shout out
03:28 to my publishers at Flatiron
03:29 because they really brought my whole life
03:31 into a written piece that I could hold
03:33 and share with others.
03:35 And they really just kinda helped me speak, talk,
03:38 share my story.
03:39 And that's really what it's all about.
03:41 It's just a book that's telling people
03:43 how I guided through my life and how I found myself
03:45 and how I understood how being true to myself
03:47 got me a lot of places.
03:49 Because we all go through things.
03:50 Life gets hard, it gets tough,
03:52 and it's hard to navigate.
03:53 But we have to understand that we all navigate it differently
03:56 and it's not gonna all look the same.
03:57 So I just kinda gave little trickets throughout the book,
04:00 just sharing how I navigate
04:02 and hopefully I can reminisce with someone else.
04:04 But it was a ton of fun to write.
04:05 It's out in February.
04:07 It's a good read.
04:07 And I don't really read, read like that.
04:09 And I'm not saying I'm (indistinct)
04:10 because my (indistinct) is on it.
04:12 But it's a good read.
04:13 - Asia here with "Sports Illustrated."
04:16 We will see you soon, I really hope,
04:18 because this has been a lot of fun.
04:20 - Thank you so much.
04:21 (upbeat music)