Becky Hammon Rests WNBA MVP Case With Simple Math Message
Las Vegas Aces superstar forward and reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson is currently leading the league in points per game (23.4) with one contest remaining in the 2025 WNBA regular season.
The only player who can catch her at this point is Minnesota Lynx standout Napheesa Collier, who currently has 23 points per game. However, the Lynx also have just one game remaining, and given that Collier sat out of her team's September 9 contest against the Indiana Fever (because Minnesota has already locked up the league's top seed heading into the postseason), there's a chance Collier also won't compete in her team's final game against the Golden State Valkyries on September 11.
And because the Aces need to win their final regular season game against the Los Angeles Sparks to secure the league's No. 2 seed beneath the Lynx, one would imagine that Wilson will be playing.
In other words, Wilson will have the scoring title locked up if she nears that 23.4 points per game mark. But what about the 2025 WNBA MVP award? That's still up in the air, as many believe it's between her and Collier for who is more deserving.
Becky Hammon Makes Crystal Clear A'ja Wilson WNBA MVP Case
While points per game is an important statistic for assessing who deserves WNBA MVP, there is also other math involved. And Aces head coach Becky Hammon made this apparent when speaking with the media before her team's September 9 win.
"This is who's the best in the league. This is the league MVP. So please stop all that silliness, talking about who's more impactful on their team. By the way, A'ja wins that argument, too. We went 1-3 without her," Hammon said, per a YouTube video from the Ballers Magazine.
"I mean, that line of thinking, I could sit there and say NaLyssa Smith is our MVP, because before NaLyssa, we were 8-8. And with her, we're 20-6. Come on. Nobody cares about your feelings and opinions. Math doesn't lie. The numbers are the numbers, I'm sorry if you don't like it. Whether she's winning her 12th MVP — which, she very well could, in her career — or her first, you don't crown someone at the beginning of the year, and walk it back so it fits your narrative," Hammon added of Wilson.
"The numbers are the one thing that don't lie. This whole damn city was built on numbers and math. Math wins, that's why I'm a terrible gambler sometimes. I always think I can win, but math wins," Hammon continued.
math doesn't lie https://t.co/kFeJSpRFOV pic.twitter.com/VWo88p8hcE
— delulu aces fan (@_ajackie_) September 10, 2025
One has got to respect Hammon's argument, and the conviction with which she delivered it.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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