WNBA ALL-STAR GAME

July 9, 2022

A'ja Wilson

Dearica Hamby

Kelsey Plum

Team Wilson - Media Conference

Q. You talked about Sylvia Fowles was a mentor to you a couple weeks ago. Can you expand on how much she's meant to the game and how she has inspired you?

A'JA WILSON: Yeah, for sure. I'm always going to be probably be one of the first to give Syl her flowers because Syl has mentored me in a way that she probably doesn't even know. Just coming into the league as a big girl and watching that has been amazing. The things she's done in this league is incredible, and to still have her body, it's magnificent to look at. I hope I can look that good headed into retirement.

But no, Syl's game and to be her teammate in the Olympics is truly special. Like it's one of those things where Syl is always going to put a smile on your face. We don't call her Mama Syl for no reason, like the nurturing of it, she understands how to talk to us, and I love that about her, and I'm going to miss it. I'm glad I could get her on my team to be able to play with her one last time. She was with me on my first Olympics in Minnesota. We were teammates, so it's kinds of a full-circle moment, so I really love that. We're definitely going to miss her, but I'm glad I get one last go-round to play alongside her.

Q. With Jackie on the other team --

A'JA WILSON: Boo! Do not speak of her name.

Q. A, has there been trash talking, and B, are you guys planning on just going at her tomorrow?

A'JA WILSON: I don't know this Jackie you speak of.

KELSEY PLUM: Talking to Jackie is like talking to a wall. You're not going to get nothing back.

A'JA WILSON: At this point if you trash talk to Jackie, you just need to talk to that wall over there. You'll get more response from that wall than talking to Jackie.

But no, at the end of the day she's not our teammate tomorrow, she's the op, she's the opposition.

DEARICA HAMBY: I think Jackie and are going to be guarding each other. I'm going to be mic'd up, so I will talk to the wall. I'm the right person.

A'JA WILSON: Yeah, get her. Break that wall.

But yeah, she's not our teammate this weekend, so we don't know who you speak of, this Jackie.

KELSEY PLUM: Don't do that to her, guys.

Q. What does it mean to continue to build that culture? We talked about the exit of Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles, what's needed from the current and next generation to continue to keep the culture alive? A'ja, what is it like playing on the same side as Candace Parker?

KELSEY PLUM: Yeah, this is my first All-Star. I'm excited to be here. I don't know if I'm going to say that the torch is being passed. I don't think that that's a thing. I don't think you pass a torch like from Syl to someone or from Sue to someone because their legacies are independent of anyone else.

But yeah, it's really cool to be here with them, and I think for me as a player, yeah, I would like to be here a lot. I don't know how to answer that without saying, yeah, I plan to continue to get better as an individual and help my team win games and hopefully you'll see a lot of us Aces continuously here, but I wouldn't dig too far into the legacy torch passing. That's above me.

A'JA WILSON: Being able to say that I'm Candace Parker's teammate this weekend is pretty dope. Growing up that was a role model of mine. She was someone that looked like me, that I could see, and it's super dope. That's why I took her No. 1, because I was like, when am I going to have another opportunity to play with Candace Parker? It was cute having them on the roster. But I had to go after Candace for sure. I'm excited for sure to play alongside Candace, and I got her at the 3. We're going to be nice. Big lineup.

Q. A'ja, there are a lot of No. 1 pick first-timers in this game. There's Kelsey, obviously, there's Jackie who we've been talking about a lot, Sabrina and Rhyne, and so I'm curious as to what your advice is for those first-timers who are also No. 1 picks but also from your perspective as a No. 1 pick, as well, what sort of comes with being a No. 1 pick and how does that change over time?

A'JA WILSON: I mean, to the first-timers, honestly just enjoy it. Enjoy this weekend. It's a lot going on, but at the same time understand that you deserve to be here and you've worked so hard to get to this point, so that's the biggest thing is just whether you're drafted No. 1 or No. 12, enjoy the moment. You deserve to be here.

Just being a No. 1 pick, of course we know the weight that comes on your shoulder coming in. You've got to show why you were No. 1, but at the end of the day it's just a blessing to be able to be in our league. There's only 144 of us and it's hard. It's really, really hard. And I remember people would always say, it's somewhat easy to get into the league but it's even harder to say in it. I think the biggest thing is just no matter when you got drafted, especially at No. 1, just play your game, show people the reason why you deserve to be there, because you do.

Q. I spoke with A'ja this morning and she talked about learning from Sylvia to take people under your wing and she talked about doing it herself. For Kelsey and Dearica, have you seen that from her and ways teammates yourselves under her wing?

DEARICA HAMBY: No, I've been a part of A'ja's journey her entire career, just to see the growth she has first year, she came in a little shy, just kind of like oh, I just want to play basketball. But I'll say over the last couple years I've seen her leadership just grow, and vocally she's just been like more present with her teammates in the locker room and kind of just encouraging us. I don't know, she's stepped up a lot the last couple years, and I'm proud to be her teammate.

A'JA WILSON: Thanks, D.

Q. You guys, we're kind of in this transition with Sue and Syl retiring, but there's so many eyeballs on the sport now and so much momentum around the league. What would you like to see the league itself do to keep that energy up?

KELSEY PLUM: I would like to see the league make it easier and more accessible for fans. For me personally, it's so interesting when people are like tuned in, where can I watch the game, and I'm like, well, you've got to download this app, then you got to put this in and oh, it's blacked out, so you've got to go to this place. I would just like -- see easier and more accessible to fans. We understand that the product is great and when we get people to watch the game, they love it, but the hardest part is getting people there. So I feel that there are better ways strategically to figure out how to draw fans in and then we can keep them.

A'JA WILSON: And also, that goes for even just apparel, as well. I feel like we shouldn't go into an airport where a WNBA team is and you don't see any WNBA gear. There's people plenty of times tweeting at us and they're like, we're in Vegas, where I can get some Aces gear? And it's like, well, they only open the store on game days and it shouldn't be like that. Yes, you can go to Nike but we all know, you can into an airport and they have every sport on demand right next to a magazine.

At the end of the day, I think like KP says it has to be more accessible to fans to want people, because you tell me I've got to go through three apps, I'm not watching that. Let's be honest here. I think that's just key as to how the league can grow.

Q. Dearica, what do you remember about your first time meeting Jackie, your first impression of her, and how has she grown since she came?

DEARICA HAMBY: She was our No. 1 pick a couple years ago and she came in and I think she had a lot of pressure on her, she's being a No. 1 pick, and whatever he said, she said, but just her growth, and we were kind of all in her ear, just stay confident. This last year to see her come into that, it's been fun to watch.

Q. A'ja and Dearica, how much trash-talking have you done since South Carolina won the National Championship, and for Dearica, this was obviously the town where you broke Chicago fans' hearts with that Hamby Heave. Will we see another one of those in the All-Star Game?

A'JA WILSON: Well, for me it wasn't much trash-talking because we all knew. So it was not a doubt in my mind that South Carolina wasn't winning it all. And people that know me know that I knew that. So it's really no trash talking because people already knew.

But yeah, Dearica, people don't like you here?

DEARICA HAMBY: They got the last laugh, and I'm going to just leave it at that.

Q. Kelsey, it was such a big moment for you when you got to meet Tom Brady earlier this season, and now that you guys are best friends, who has a better arm, you or Tom Brady?

DEARICA HAMBY: Be honest, Kelsey. Be true to yourself right now.

KELSEY PLUM: I think we all know what it is. Tommy can come see me any time, anywhere. He knows where to find me. I'm picking me. Just saying.

A'JA WILSON: Being on the receiving end, I would say KP. He has just a couple more rings. I mean, what are those (laughing)?

KELSEY PLUM: I'm working on it. I'm working on it.