Aces' Becky Hammon Rips WNBA MVP Voting After A'ja Wilson Finished 3rd: 'It's a Joke'

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon called it a "joke" that Aces star A'ja Wilson finished third on the WNBA MVP voting.

After her team took a 2-0 series lead over the New York Liberty in the 2023 WNBA Finals, Hammon told reporters Wilson was snubbed in large part because the Aces were so good the five-time All-Star could earn some much-deserved rest. That, in turn, lowered her per-game production a bit.

Hammon made the same point after the voting was announced. She even produced a notecard detailing Wilson's playing time compared to MVP winner Breanna Stewart and runner-up Alyssa Thomas.

As the regular season was drawing to a close, three clear candidates emerged in the MVP race, and each of the three made a compelling case. Stewart ultimately came out on top despite getting three fewer first-place votes than Thomas, and only 13 points separated her from Wilson.

The frustration over Wilson's position was understandable. She helped power the Aces to one the best starts ever, and she took her game to a different level in the second half of the year while Candace Parker was recovering from foot surgery. The 6'4" forward averaged 26.2 points on 57.9 percent shooting along with 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks after the All-Star break.

Wilson and the Aces are poised to get the last laugh.

Las Vegas took the first two games of the Finals by a combined margin of 45 points. A second consecutive championship looks like a formality at this point.

Stewart might have been crowned the regular-season MVP, but for many, this is the year Wilson definitively established herself as the best, most dominant player in the WNBA.