A'ja Wilson

“I love LeBron. He's worth every penny, nickel and dime, and he does good with it. I've got nothing against it. It's just me, thinking about myself as a professional athlete, thinking, 'Damn, it's out there, how can we get it as well?' Not necessarily his number, his contract, even though people made it seem that way.”

“I love being the underdog.”

“I'm still grateful to have people like Coach Staley in my life that made me read the scripture before shootaround. That made me get outta my comfort zone of reading in public. And it's kinda helped me - a lot.”

“It's something I know my grandfather pounded into my dad's head, and he pounded into mine: Always be a good person. And I carry that over into basketball. I love the game, and I hope to play at the highest level. But I also hope to become a really great teammate, to always have energy, to lift people up when things aren't going well.”

“People forget that I'm human, that I have emotions. They just see me as a basketball player.”

“I hate when people get in my privacy or in my mind, but at the same time, if me talking it out helps the next person, I'm down for it.”

“I'm a perfectionist.”

“People always say defense starts with the heart. I try to have as much heart as I can.”

“The biggest thing for me is helping people understand that there is a women's bracket, and you should fill out brackets on both sides. So many focus on the men's NCAA and often forget the women. Both need to be watched, we have our upsets and excitement just like the men do.”

“My goal is to not just to be the best basketball player that I can be, but to also inspire the next generation that looks like me.”

“My emotions are my emotions. My pain is my pain. My story is my story.”

“I never expected to field as much hate and negativity that I did, but it just fueled my fire and my teammates' fire.”

“Proving the haters wrong is fun, and you're able to play freely when there aren't expectations.”

“Oh, man, I'm definitely the Lebron 15 lows type of girl. It's such a light shoe, so I love my LeBron 15s.”

“This is something that young girls dream of, playing for Team U.S.A. and being an Olympian.”

“I am lucky to be in a field where I can wear my hair the way I want, and the apostrophe in my name won't impact my prospects - but that's something that Black women often run into.”

“It's OK to have days where you're just like, 'I don't feel like A'ja.' 'I don't want to do this,' and know that you're still OK every step of the way and give yourself some grace.”

“I focus on me; how can I be a better teammate? A better person? I just let the rest pan out. I can't really pay a lot of attention to the accolades, but at the same time, I don't take for granted how blessed I really am.”

“I was 13 when I first met Dawn Staley. We shook hands at a basketball camp.”