Becky Hammon Calls Out A’ja Wilson ‘Insecurity’ Criticism Amid Star’s FIBA World Cup Absence

A’ja Wilson chose to sit out for Team USA’s FIBA World Cup run this year, a move which elicited plenty of online criticism. | Steph Chambers/Getty Images

When four-time MVP A’ja Wilson suddenly dropped out of Team USA’s roster for the FIBA World Cup, naturally, the WNBA community took notice.

Wilson reportedly had not been “100%” entering the tournament, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, though she didn’t miss any Aces games leading up to the World Cup. Prior to the announcement, the Las Vegas star popped up on her team’s injury report twice citing a back issue, but it was still a bit of a stunner to see Wilson get scratched alongside fellow vet Kelsey Plum (Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron took their places on Team USA’s roster).

In the wake of criticism surrounding Wilson’s decision to sit out for the Americans’ gold-medal-defending run, Aces coach Becky Hammon delivered a blunt message to all her detractors:

“A'ja has every right to do what she feels is best health wise. 
And the other thing is, the men do this all the time,” Hammon told USA TODAY’s Callie Fin. “Can you name me any of the men's world championship rosters right now? Can you name me any person on there? What I’m saying is, LeBron [James] and those guys—if this was a man making this decision, there would be nothing to say. And that's my problem.”  

Hammon added that she hadn’t caught wind of former ESPN host Linda Cohn’s unsubstantiated claims about Wilson’s alleged “insecurity” heading into the World Cup.

What Ex-ESPN host Linda Cohn said about A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark amid Team USA’s FIBA World Cup run

Even when the WNBA is on hiatus, there’s never a dull moment in women’s basketball discourse. Former SportsCenter anchor Linda Cohn proved that much with her eyebrow-raising claims that A’ja Wilson might be “insecure” about the FIBA World Cup turning into the “Caitlin Clark show” following news of Wilson’s health-related absence.

“Is there any part of A'ja that didn't want to spend the next couple of weeks watching the World Cup become the Caitlin Clark show?" Cohn said. "Because let’s face it, Caitlin walks into a building and the attention follows her. ... Could A’ja simply not want to deal with that? Could there be some insecurity, dare I say? Could she be thinking, ‘I’m the four-time MVP, I’m the best player in the world. Why does everything have to be about Caitlin Clark?’

“... When the specific health issue hasn’t been disclosed, and one of the biggest stars in American basketball decides not to represent Team USA at the last minute while her biggest MVP competition does show up, people are going to ask questions.”

Cohn’s remarks quickly caught on fire. Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley, who coached Wilson for four years at South Carolina and for a brief stint on Team USA, simply responded, “Linda, please!”

While it’s easy to stir the pot when it comes to anything related to Clark, it’s a little more difficult to look at the facts and understand exactly why Wilson made the decision she did.

One needs only to see what befell Storm’s Ezi Magbegor, who suffered a torn ACL in her right knee while playing for Australia in the FIBA World Cup this fall. Magbegor is set to miss the rest of the WNBA campaign and could be in danger of missing the start of the 2027 season, too. The play on which Magbegor got injured wasn’t particularly dangerous, either—she was driving to the basket against Italy’s Lorela Cubaj and her right leg appeared to buckle as she planted her foot. An unfortunate self-inflicted injury that could have happened to anybody, Wilson included.

EZI INJURED 🤕

The Opals booked in a date with Spain in the quarterfinals, but all eyes will be on captain Ezi Magbegor after she left the game with injury in the first quarter 😬#fibawwc pic.twitter.com/gFg8cCPxbM

— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) September 9, 2026

Even before Wilson’s withdrawal from the FIBA World Cup, which came less than a week before Team USA’s opener against China, the Aces star didn’t seem to be totally healthy. Wilson sat out of the Aces’ loss to the Liberty in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game on June 30 due to a right leg injury, and then missed a pair of games in early July as she continued to rest her leg.

This time, Wilson has been dealing with reported back soreness, and she likely took the cautious, better-safe-than-sorry approach by excusing herself from the World Cup. The Aces (27-13) currently hold the No. 3 seed with four games left in the regular season and will be looking to build some crucial momentum into the playoffs as they try to defend their title. It goes without saying that the team will need a healthy Wilson—the league’s top scorer averaging 26.0 points per game—to accomplish the ambitious repeat. Wilson and the Aces will return to WNBA action on Sept. 17 against the Storm.

On the cusp of an unprecedented fifth MVP award, Wilson may have believed she couldn’t risk her body when the Aces arguably needed her more than Team USA, whose roster is chock-full of young talent, have clinched gold in the last four straight World Cups and are well on their way to winning their fifth (and 12th overall) in Berlin.

And for what it’s worth, it has not been the Caitlin Clark show, as Cohn insinuated. It’s instead been a wholly team effort from Kara Lawson’s squad, with the Americans recently surviving a minor scare against Italy but bouncing back to defeat Hungary in an 108-point, 31-assist beatdown. Led by a senior starting core of Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Chelsea Gray and others, Team USA will face Spain in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

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