The WNBA successfully collectively bargained this past fall, and we will have a 2026-27 WNBA season. With the success of the league’s new CBA, the players in the WNBA are finally signing million-dollar contracts for the first time. Of the WNBA stars that have begun signing these landmark deals, A’Ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces has signed the first super max contract in WNBA history, according to ESPN.

Wilson signed a three-year contract that totals around $5 million. The significance of Wilson being the first player in the WNBA to sign such a deal is that she has been a standard of excellence for the league for the better part of the last five seasons.

A’Ja Wilson is not new to this

The Aces’ living legend already has four WNBA league MVP titles to her name from 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025. In that span of time, she has also won three WNBA championships in 2022, 2023 and 2025. Of those three titles, Wilson has been the MVP in two of those finals as well. Her career is becoming synonymous with the all-time greats of the league.

The ladies who have some of the most decorated resumes in the game. Think Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie, Maya Moore and Tina Thompson. Aside from being champions themselves, there’s something else all of those women have in common. They all helped lay the ground that made it possible for the WNBA to be able to dole out million-dollar deals.

A’Ja Wilson is the perfect example

With Wilson becoming the first woman to sign such a deal, it sets a precedent. If you are a player who aspires to be a super max player, then your drive has to be reminiscent of hers. As a player who plays both ends of the floor and takes accountability in the pressers, she is a shining example of what it means to be a pro. What’s even more astonishing is that as the league has improved, she continues to be a premier talent in it.

In the last three seasons, the WNBA has grown by four teams. There’s a wider array of talent for all of these ladies to go up against. Still, Audi Crooks and Juju Watkins have yet to enter the league. The future of the WNBA is healthy. But if this past off-season has shown us anything, it’s that Wilson and the Aces are ready to compete. Chelsea Gray and Jewell Lloyd return to the team, but a huge key pickup for them was Chennedy Carter.

A bright future ahead for A’Ja Wilson

The last we saw of her in the “W” was her leading the Chicago Sky in scoring at 17.5 points per game. But reports of her being tough to deal with in the locker room resulted in her not being signed to a team last season. In Wilson’s comments upon returning to the WNBA, she stated that in the year away, she has “matured.” A mature version of Carter will surely be welcomed. At 27, she has so much left to give with the energy and offense that she brings.

The opportunity for Wilson to continue to build on what she has cultivated is very tangible. The team that she goes into this season with is stacked like nobody’s business. But the optics of her leadership, above all else, is the beauty in the symbolism of her signing the first super max contract. There aren’t many who are more deserving. I know that’s not lost on her, and her play this season will absolutely be in tribute to that fact.