A’ja Wilson caused a firestorm of opinion over the last few days about her actions during Game 2 of the WNBA playoffs between the Las Vegas Aces and Indiana Fever. A fan in the stands pointed at Wilson, and she admittedly lost her cool, running over to the fan, getting in his face and yelling at him as he returned to his seat.
Wilson was assessed a technical foul by the referees for violating league rules, and the WNBA said it would not be pursuing any disciplinary action against the fan. The WNBA closed the book on that potential drama quickly, but the conversation surrounding Wilson’s actions still linger, as fans, former players and analysts are split on whether or not her actions were justified.
Former NBA player and “All The Smoke” podcast host Stephen Jackson posted a video on X where he took the WNBA announcers to task for not holding their players accountable when they are in the wrong. Jackson believes that the announcers went too easy on Wilson and should have called her out for losing her cool in the midst of frustration over the game. The NBA champion cited ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith as a media member who he doesn’t always agree with, but isn’t afraid to criticize players when they mess up.
“I’m sure I’m ready to see when these announcers start holding these women accountable,” Jackson said. “One thing about Stephen A, I don’t always agree with him but he always held himself accountable. I … did something wrong, he spoke on it. He gave us our flowers but when we did something wrong he held us accountable. Why do the women announcers not hold these WNBA players accountable when they do something that was foul?”
Wilson, a three-time WNBA champion and four-time MVP, was very adamant after the game in justifying her actions.
“I see a man come at me, taking steps towards me and pointing at me. I don’t give a damn what you said. I don’t care how you said it, the tone … that is unacceptable. You don’t step towards me and point at me. I’m not for that sh*t at all,” Wilson warned.
Jackson isn’t checking for Wilson’s excuse. He also doesn’t think the league should continue to downplay, hide or ignore transgressions from their superstars, on or off the court.
“Everything can’t be correct, Y’all want to be treated like NBA players but y’all don’t want to be held accountable like NBA players. It doesn’t work like that. Even the women announcers who never even played in the NBA, some of them never played basketball. But they are quick to jump on an NBA player when he does something wrong or says something foul. Jump on them same WNBA players that’s doing foul sh-t. It goes by the wayside. Equality right?”
Fans jumped into the comments, with some defending Wilson and others agreeing with Jackson about accountability.
“If he talking about A’ja he literally got suspended for beating up fans,” one fan commented.
To which another user responded on X, saying, “I think his rebuttal would be he was held accountable for doing that. He’s not judging the behavior, just how it’s handled in the aftermath.”
“he’s right,” a user agreed.
“U can’t cry and demand for better pay and more respect for the game without being judged just as harshly,” tweeted one netizen.
“They been building the brand of the wnba for 30 years if they want the same pay and recognition as the NBA they got to take the backlash and hate that comes with it too,” expressed one WNBA fan.
WNBA women are making major coin now. Average salaries have jumped to approximately $583,000 to $600,000 under the 2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement, up from around $107,000. With this major increase in salary comes more responsibility and more criticism and attention from fans. This is something the league has to adjust to, along with the social media pressure, as it continues to gain more revenue and eyeballs.
