PHOENIX — No matter how old and accomplished you are, your parents are always going to see you as their child.
A’ja Wilson said Thursday that her parents, Roscoe and Eva, have been living with her for the past two months while watching her and the Las Vegas Aces chase a third WNBA title in four years. Wilson and the Aces have a commanding three-games-to-none lead over Phoenix in the best-of-seven finals.
Game 4 is Friday at 8 p.m. in Phoenix.
And while the four-time MVP loves having them with her, being under the same roof as her parents again takes some adjusting to.
Even if it’s her roof now.
“I have a chef, and they’re still like, ‘Make sure she gets her vegetables!’ I’m like, ‘OK. Yes. We’re good,’ ” Wilson said, the exasperation of a teenager creeping into her voice.
“They’re still on East Coast time, so they’re up at like 5 a.m. over in my house. I hear pots clinking and clinking, and I’m like, ‘What is going on?’ ” she said. “But, yeah, they’re still my parents. They’re still making sure that my bed’s made, making sure I do my chores even though I have all those things taken care of.”
Roscoe and Eva Wilson still live in South Carolina, where Wilson grew up and went to college. But now that they’re retired, they can spend long stretches on the road to cheer on their daughter. They were at the Aces’ practice facility when WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told Wilson she had won her fourth MVP award.
Roscoe Wilson and Las Vegas owner Mark Davis even sported pink wigs for the occasion, a tribute to the initial colorway of her signature A’One shoe.
They also were in the stands when Las Vegas closed out its first-round series against the Seattle Storm, and a photo of the three of them after the game captures her parents’ love and pride.
“The emotion behind the picture is something I want to get framed and put in my house because my parents have been on this journey, obviously, for a long, long time,” Wilson said. “Their support, it’s unwavering. It’s unconditional love that I need at this time.”
Even if they do sometimes still treat her like a kid.
“No, they never change,” Wilson said with a smile. “And that’s what I love the most about ‘em.”
