LVSportsBiz.com’s Chat With Roscoe Wilson — Father of Las Vegas Aces Star A’ja Wilson

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

Roscoe Wilson is one proud daddy.

Wilson’s daughter, A’ja, just turned 24 Saturday and her father told LVSportsBiz.com in an interview Tuesday that he’s blessed to have A’ja Wilson as his daughter.

A’ja Wilson

Wilson is clearly the face of the WNBA Las Vegas Aces and has emerged as a leader on social issues in her third season in the WNBA. She spoke up and spoke out about WNBA player pay equity issues in 2018 and about racial equality issues in 2020 with a powerful story in The Players’ Tribune.

LVSportsBiz.com went one-on-one with Roscoe Wilson Tuesday to find out how A’ja developed into a prominent player and leader. Here’s that interview:

Here are five things we learned about A’ja Wilson from talking to her father.

 

1:    A’ja wanted to be an NFL quarterback. Her dad said she threw a pretty nice spiral and that A’ja also liked soccer ahead of becoming a basketball player.

2:   Balance in life. Roscoe Wilson said it was important for A’ja  to have balance in her life between her fun-loving personality off the court and her competitiveness on the court.

3:   Be a good person. Above all else, Roscoe Wilson said, A’ja was taught to be a good person.  Roscoe said his daughter is grounded.

4:   Never put anyone down. Roscoe Wilson said her daughter received some vicious responses on social media after she spoke up for WNBA player pay equity. But A’ja was taught to never put a person down and, instead, address the behavior.

5:   Dyslexia. Roscoe Wilson said A’ja has dyslexia and believes the sky is the limit for his daughter after A’ja stops playing basketball. Roscoe said he can see A’ja going into administration, possibly into a team front office.

The Aces are 5-2 in the WNBA pandemic bubble in west Florida and play Indiana Tuesday.

 


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Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.