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She’s won multiple Olympic gold medals, WNBA titles and MVP awards, netted her own Nike signature shoe and landed on the front cover of a video game. But Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson said her biggest accomplishments are off the court.
That was evident Friday afternoon at the Boys &Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada’s James Clubhouse in North Las Vegas where the A’ja Wilson Foundation, with video game franchise 2K and the 2K Foundations, unveiled a new indoor basketball court for the youth to work on the game that has given Wilson so much.
“I feel like that’s the biggest accolade of them all, being a tangible role model for them and having them understand that they can do the same thing that I’m doing, in their own way,” Wilson told the Review-Journal on Friday. “I love giving back to the next generation. I love giving them something to aspire to be.”
Growing up, Wilson also had those role models who helped her reach the milestones of her basketball journey. To pay it back is a full circle moment for Wilson, she said.
“To now become one (a role model), it’s kind of a pinch me moment,” she said. “So, I’m happy to be able to do that.”
Before the refresh, the basketball court was in bad shape, after a water leak a few years back that all but destroyed the wood, leading to an artificial surface being placed over the court, according to the Andy Bischel, president and CEO of Boys &Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada.
“When we had the opportunity to put a real basketball floor back in, this was the ideal place for it,” Bischel said. “This is the very first club in Southern Nevada, actually in the entire state. It was built in 1959 originally, so this is awesome to have someone like A’ja to care about us and add this new floor.”
New scoreboard also added
The new court features the A’ja Wilson Foundation logo, Wilson’s Nike logo and the 2K Foundations’ logos on different portions of the hardwood. A new scoreboard was also added to the court as part of the upgrade.
“That is the foundation that you need in order to make it to the pros, in order make it to college and have fun in that sense,” Wilson said. “Anytime we can do that and give them a space to make them feel comfortable and have a safe space to play the game that we all love, I’m so happy that I get to partner with 2K to do this.”
With the 2K franchise becoming a huge hit within the culture of basketball, their charitable arm the 2K Foundations has been providing new courts to youths all over the world. Teaming up with Wilson in North Las Vegas during International Women’s Month made all the sense in the world to Ronnie Singh, known to his millions of social media followers as Ronnie 2K, the face of the video game franchise.
“Years of playing video games, it wasn’t supposed to be a platform to grow youth sports, but the 2K Foundations has really become proud to build basketball and give back to the community,” Singh said Friday. “Respective NBA players, respective WNBA players, it’s big for us to show up and support. I was once one of these kids, so it’s always great for us to do these events.”
Singh is the digital marketing director for 2K Games and is known for his in-game ratings of NBA and WNBA players featured in the popular NBA2K video games.
Wilson featured on video game cover
Wilson, who was one of the athletes featured on one of the covers of this year’s NBA2K video game, took to the court herself, carrying out a skills challenge and then cheering on the children in attendance as they took part in basketball contests themselves. Winners of the games took home a WNBA ball autographed by Wilson, and the memory of taking to the court with one of the league’s best players.
“Just giving them an opportunity to dream, let this be a vehicle to their dreams or their goals,” Wilson said. “If a kid leaves here and is like, ‘I just want to play basketball again another day,’ or if someone felt like they weren’t good enough and they leave here saying, ‘I can be my true self and be good,’ I am so happy with that, whether I touch one heart or 200.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
