Sports
A'ja Wilson Deserves To Win WNBA MVP
There have been seasons in which the race for the WNBA’s MVP trophy has been close, competitive and compelling.
Last year marked one of them, when New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart beat Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas by just seven voting points—and Thomas had three more first-place votes. The 2005 season marked another narrow debate when Sheryl Swoopes received two more voting points than Lauren Jackson.
But this season is not one of those years. Frankly, there is only one logical choice for the league’s MVP award. It should be a runaway and unanimous decision. It should be the third time that Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson takes the trophy home. And it shouldn’t be close.
A year ago, Wilson finished third in that tightly contested MVP race, just 13 voting points behind the winner, Stewart. There has never been a smaller margin between the first- and third-place vote getters for MVP in the history of the WNBA.
If Wilson used that bronze medal finish as motivation, it worked. She dominated throughout the 2023 postseason and powered the Aces to a second-straight championship while taking home the Finals MVP award. If consolation prizes exist, those are pretty good ones.
And then Wilson proceeded to turn in one of the greatest seasons ever by a WNBA player.
The 28-year-old forward from Columbia, South Carolina, is averaging 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 51.8 percent from the floor and 84.4 percent from the charity stripe. She leads all WNBA players in points, blocks, defensive rebounds, field goals made, and free throws made.
No player in the history of the WNBA, which played its first season in 1997, has averaged as many points, rebounds and blocks in a single season as Wilson this year. Simply put, she’s doing things no player has ever done before. The University of South Carolina product also recently became the first player ever to score at least 1,000 points in a single season, and she took hold of the league’s single-season rebounding record on Tuesday night with seven boards in a win over the Seattle Storm.
“Since I’ve been a part of this league, which is 1999, I don’t know if we’ve seen a season like she’s having now,” Aces coach Becky Hammon told ESPN. “She’s just a beautiful player to watch… And makes it look easy. It is not easy. It’s a special, generational talent.”
Oh, and Wilson excels in advanced statistics too. She’s second in the WNBA in points-per-play (1.12), and first in defensive rebounding rate (31.8), player efficiency rating (34.9) and win shares (10). She’s also posting a career-best defensive rating of 90.5.
“I can probably say she’s the best rebounder I’ve ever seen, hands down,” 2009 WNBA MVP Diana Taurasi said of Wilson. “When you can secure the ball for your team, you are always going to give your team a chance to win. She is just playing out of her mind, and she is going to continue to do it because she loves the game.”
It’s difficult to even make a case for who might be a runner-up to Wilson this season. Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark has captured tons of attention with her long-distance 3-pointers and neck-breaking assists—which she leads the league in—but she isn’t scoring and defending at the same rate and as efficiently as Wilson is. Stewart is having another All-WNBA-caliber season, but not one that rises to the level of an MVP. Napheesa Collier is arguably having her best campaign as a pro and is leading the Minnesota Lynx back to the postseason, but no one would reasonably argue that she’s having a better year than Wilson.
The Aces don’t seem quite as dominant as they did last season when they went 34-6 en route to a second championship. This year, they’ve endured a three-game losing streak and another stretch where they lost five of seven games. The play, durability, reliability and heroics of Wilson are a big reason why Las Vegas is heading back to the postseason with the hopes of three-peating still alive. She’s missed just one game this season and has played a career-high 34.4 minutes per game.
“It’s an honor to be able to play with her,” Aces guard Jackie Young told ESPN. “She comes in every day and kind of shows us what a professional is.”
As long as Wilson is playing this way, consider the Aces to be contenders for the title.
And go ahead and pencil her in to join the likes of Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson as a three-time MVP.
Sports
76ers C Joel Embiid (oblique) out at least 3 games
Feb 26, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) reacts while clutching his body after a play against the Miami Heat during the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Philadelphia star center Joel Embiid underwent an MRI on Saturday that revealed a strained right oblique and he will miss at least three games before being re-evaluated, the 76ers announced.
Embiid, 31, was injured during Philadelphia’s 124-117 home win over the Miami Heat on Thursday, when he still played 31 minutes and totaled 26 points and 11 rebounds.
A seven-time All-Star with a history of injuries, Embiid will be sidelined for Sunday’s game against the host Boston Celtics as well as back-to-back home games against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday and the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
The 76ers are 33-26, and Embiid has played in 33 games (all starts) this season, averaging 26.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.1 blocks and 31.2 minutes. Philadelphia is 21-12 with him and 12-14 without him.
Embiid was limited to 19 games last season because of an ailing left knee and had surgery in April. He began this season on a minutes restriction because of the knee, and he was out for five games in February because of knee and shin issues.
For his career, Embiid is averaging 27.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 blocks and 31.8 minutes in 485 regular-season games (all starts).
He also has averaged 24.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.7 blocks and 35.3 minutes in 59 playoff games (all starts).
Embiid was the league’s Most Valuable Player for the 2022-23 season and was voted All-NBA first team in 2022-23 and second team four other times. He’s a three-time All-Defensive team second-team pick. Philadelphia made him the third overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft out of Kansas.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 7 Florida drubs No. 20 Arkansas, wins SEC regular-season title
Florida forward Alex Condon (21) drives on Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile (7) during the first half of an NCAA basketball game at Steven C. O’Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, February 28, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun] Thomas Haugh scored 22 points, Ruben Chinyelu had 12 points and 16 rebounds for his 17th double-double, and No. 7 Florida clinched the Southeastern Conference regular-season title with a 111-77 rout of No. 20 Arkansas in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday.
Alex Condon scored 17 points, Urban Klavzar and Boogie Fland scored 14 apiece and Xaivian Lee added 13 as the Gators (23-6, 14-2 SEC) placed seven players in double figures in their highest scoring game of the season.
The defending champion Gators lead second-place No. 17 Alabama (22-7, 12-4) by two games with two games left, and they own the tiebreaker after a 100-79 victory in their lone regular-season meeting.
Florida has won a season-high nine in a row — eight by at least 13 points — and is a projected No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Billy Richmond scored 22 points and Darius Acuff Jr. added 17 for the Razorbacks (21-8, 11-5), who had won five of six. They are a projected No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Acuff, the SEC’s leading scorer at 22.2 points per game, had a streak of nine straight 20-point games broken. He was 6 of 19 from the field.
Florida led by at least 24 in the final 15 minutes and stretched its advantage to 37 on Condon’s layup in the final three minutes.
The Gators secured their first regular-season title since 2013-14, when they also won the SEC tournament.
Florida shot 56.5% from the field and had a 51-31 rebounding advantage. Condon had six rebounds and Haugh had five. The Gators led the nation with a plus-14.1 rebound margin.
The Razorbacks shot 40.0% from the field.
Florida coach Todd Golden and Arkansas coach John Calipari were hit with double technical fouls with 17:27 left with the Gators holding a 23-point lead.
Klavzar kickstarted the Gators with two 3-pointers and Condon added a dunk in a 12-0 run to give Florida a 23-16 lead nine minutes in.
Lee made three layups later in the first half and Isaiah Brown (11 points) hit two 3-pointers and a transition dunk to push the Gators’ lead to 51-27 with 2:33 left in the first half.
Florida led 53-34 at half, when it totaled 32 points in the paint.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Thomas Muller's first-half brace leads Vancouver to rout of Toronto
Feb 28, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Thomas Muller (13) celebrates scoring on a corner kick from midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (16) (not pictured) against Toronto FC goalkeeper Luka Gavran (1) during the first half at BC Place. Mandatory Credit: Simon Fearn-Imagn Images Thomas Muller scored a first-half brace, leading the Whitecaps to a 3-0 victory over visiting Toronto FC on Saturday night in Vancouver.
Brian White also scored a first-half goal, while keeper Yohei Takaoka made three saves for his second consecutive clean sheet to open the MLS season.
With the victory, Vancouver (2-0-0, 6 points) improved to 4-0-1 in its last five regular-season matches against Toronto.
The Reds (0-2-0, 0 points) are now 6-9-4 in 19 MLS meetings against their Western Canadian rivals.
Trailing 3-0, Toronto had an excellent chance to cut into the lead early in the second half. Djordje Mihailovic thought he’d put Toronto on the board in the 55th minute, but the midfielder was caught offside.
Then in the 74th minute, Takaoka made a diving save off Toronto midfielder Jose Cifuentes – the Reds’ first shot on target of the match.
Vancouver controlled possession in the first half with five shots on target.
Aziel Jackson was awarded a penalty kick after being taken down in the area by Walker Zimmerman in the 24th minute. On the ensuing penalty kick, Muller opened the scoring, putting his right-footed strike in the bottom-left corner past Luka Gavran.
Muller added his second of the half 12 minutes later as Sebastian Berhalter’s corner was headed across to Muller by Mathias Laborda, and the German midfielder ripped his left-footed shot into an open goal.
In first-half stoppage time, off another Berhalter corner, Gavran was caught out of position, allowing White to score on a right-footed strike.
Up next, Vancouver travels to Portland for its first away match of the season next Saturday. Toronto visits Cincinnati next Sunday to wrap up a three-game road trip to open the season.
–Field Level Media
76ers C Joel Embiid (oblique) out at least 3 games
No. 7 Florida drubs No. 20 Arkansas, wins SEC regular-season title
