South Carolina women’s basketball: A’ja Wilson’s MVP chants upset opponent

Wednesday night’s game between the Las Vegas Aces and Atlanta Dream had it all. The Aces and Dream are two of the best teams in the league, and playoff position was on the line. A’ja Wilson and Allisha Gray are MVP candidates with a chance to solidify their case. 

Atlanta led for much of the first three quarters, but Las Vegas took control with a 13-0 run to end the third. Atlanta nearly erased the deficit, thanks in large part to a three-pointer by Te-Hina Paopao with 1:07 left, but it wasn’t enough. 

With 8.9 seconds left, Wilson went to the line for a pair of free throws to ice the game. She was serenaded by chants of “MVP” as she sank both free throws. 

No big deal, except that the game was in Atlanta. And Dream guard Rhyne Howard wasn’t happy.

“We rely on our fans, and when they pick and choose who they want to cheer for and come in and make it feel like an away game for us and a home game for the other team, it’s easy to go on a run like that,” Howard said. “Especially with the playoffs coming up. You want to see Gamecocks, we have Gamecocks on our roster. The last game, we had MVP chants for one of our players. Don’t get here and switch up because of one player.”

Howard went to Kentucky, and the Wildcats have long been one of South Carolina’s fiercest rivals. But she didn’t seem to be calling up an old grudge. 

Join GamecockCentral now for $1 your first week and enjoy a complimentary year of The Athletic – included with your membership.

Howard’s college career didn’t overlap with Wilson, Gray, or Paopao, and Howard and Gray are close friends. And Howard wasn’t complaining about Gamecock fans; she certainly seemed to appreciate that they chanted “MVP” for Gray as well.

But naturally, in this day and age, where nobody wants nuance to get in the way of clickbait headlines, Howard’s complaint has been twisted into a complaint about Gamecock fans. (Wilson also got MVP chants in Washington, albeit on a smaller scale.)

Because Atlanta is the closest WNBA franchise, a lot of Gamecock fans have season tickets for the Dream. The fact that the Dream start two former Gamecocks has added to the connection. It’s also the FAMs best chance to see players on other franchises when they come through.

That’s that’s why games in Atlanta have always been special for Wilson. It’s not a coincidence that she scored her WNBA-record 53 points in Atlanta. 

It’s also why Dawn Staley has Dream season tickets. She wasn’t at Wednesday’s game, but her assistant coaches Wendale Farrow and Khadijah Sessions, who was Wilson’s teammate (and Gray’s during her redshirt season), were there.

Both were visibly cheering for all three former Gamecocks, but their most notable appearance on the broadcast was high-fiving Wilson after she drilled a three-pointer.

Atlanta has two more games against a former Gamecock this season, both against Sania Feagin and the Los Angeles Sparks.