A'ja Wilson Becomes Fastest in WNBA History to Hit 6,000 Career Points. Who Else Has Done It?

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Aces center A'ja Wilson became the fastest WNBA player in history to reach 6,000 career points on Monday night, when she scored 34 points (plus 12 rebounds and nine assists) in Las Vegas's 101–91 win vs. the Seattle Storm. That effort brings her overall points tally to 6,004.
Her pace in setting that mark is historic. It took her just 278 career games to reach the milestone, which is notably 13 games less than it took the WNBA's all-time leading scorer and former Mercury guard Diana Taurasi (291). It is also faster than Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, who reached 6,000 career points in 293 games, per ESPN's Michael Voepel.
"I'm just grateful to be able to do what I do with the people I love," said the 29-year-old Wilson. "I've seen so many different defenses, different schemes. Yet we still show up every single day, ready to work and ready to be great. I'm just truly grateful for every teammate I've come in contact with that has played alongside me for this 6,000."
Wilson has put up a Hall of Fame-level resume across her eight full seasons in the league (the 2026 campaign is her ninth season overall). Of her 278 games played, she has started 277 of them, and is clearly on pace to shatter (or at least come close to shattering) various records during her time in the league. Last season, she was named the Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time overall, making her the first player in the history of the W to win the award four times.
As of this writing, she also leads the league in average points per game, with 25.9, as well as blocks per game, with 2.4.
In light of her historic achievement on the points front, let's take a look at the W's all-time scoring leaders, with a specific focus on those who passed the 6,000-point mark. All numbers according to Basketball Reference.
Player | Career Points |
|---|---|
Diana Taurasi | 10,646 |
Tina Charles | 8,396 |
DeWanna Bonner* | 7,912 |
Tina Thompson | 7,488 |
Nneka Ogwumike* | 7,460 |
Tamika Catchings | 7,380 |
Candice Dupree | 6,895 |
Cappie Pondexter | 6,811 |
Sue Bird | 6,803 |
Candace Parker | 6,574 |
Katie Smith | 6,452 |
Sylvia Fowles | 6,415 |
Lisa Leslie | 6,263 |
Breanna Stewart* | 6,231 |
Jewell Loyd* | 6,088 |
Brittney Griner* | 6,031 |
Seimone Augustus | 6,005 |
Lauren Jackson | 6,005 |
A'ja Wilson | 6,004 |
*=active player
As you can see, Wilson will soon move up this list in no time; she needs just one more point to surpass Jackson and Augustus, and could soon catch Griner, especially as the Suns center is dealing with a rib strain at the moment. Meanwhile, just behind Wilson is Hall of Famer and Aces coach Becky Hammon, who boasts 5,841 career points. That's a fun connection between player and coach, no doubt.
We'll see how Wilson adds to her tally in the coming games, which will see the Aces go up against the Fire, the Lynx and the Wings.
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Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.