There are times when the game becomes a battle of wills, and you either have it or you don’t. But A’ja Wilson didn’t just work this hard to succeed. this far. Even as a two-time WNBA champion, there’s still more to do, more to accomplish, more to win, and more to strive for.
She faced the same question promoting Gatorade’s latest campaign, which harks back to the brand’s heyday when Michael Jordan was drinking Citrus Cooler Gatorade in a glass bottle. She is tested, driven and proven. She rose to the top, built a dynasty and became an icon. These tests resonate deeply with A’ja’s journey, a moment of clarity in which she must choose. Dig deeper or be satisfied. And A’ja Wilson is never satisfied.
She points to the 2023 WNBA Finals as evidence of the latter. “I think this championship that It’s been a lot of testing. You either got it or you didn’t. Your preparation is preparation for this moment,” Wilson tells SLAM.
This view was clearly evident when she was filming the commercial in mid-April as you read this. Back in the late ’90s, Gatorade revived “Is It In You?” The campaign features a 60-second ad featuring A’ja alongside the brand’s roster of elite athletes.
When the brand presented her with marketing materials that captured the vibe and energy of the revised concept, A’ja was over the moon. She felt connected.
“Words can’t express how excited we are to bring this vintage back to the old ways we actually grew up with,” Wilson told SLAM. “Being a ’90s kid, growing up, meeting MJ, meeting all these other athletes, and now finally getting to be in that commercial, part of the commercials that I used to see. “The whole family was really interesting.”
We received exclusive news that A’ja joined Gatorade’s elite roster in early May. With the brand’s history of energizing athletes for decades, Wilson wants to showcase the individual side of himself and his fellow athletes.
“I think when you look at this list and see what we do at Gatorade, it’s like, ‘Okay, we grew up with this, but the reality is that we grew up Therefore. We really grew up with this one drink, and now we’re representing it and it’s amazing,” A’ja tells SLAM. “There are a lot of people who look at our list and our awards and say, ‘Oh my gosh, they are the elite of the elite.’ But they may not see that there are whole human beings navigating the world. Yes, the human side, the child side, just by looking at A’ja’s tweets, he is still human at the end of the day.”
It’s been almost 30 years since Gatorade first gained attention. that Within the athlete. As the environment changed, so did the brand’s mission for the modernized campaign. Today’s athletes navigate a barrage of external pressures and expectations. An ecosystem full of endless opportunities, from social media to finding the perfect team to training situations.
For A’ja, her authenticity as an athlete and a Black woman has always been present. That’s what keeps her anchored to her. She has a genuine, fun and sassy personality. Over the years, she has navigated these moments with both grace and command. Her will has been tested, questioned and praised, and her team slogan from last season with the Las Vegas Aces reappears as she explains her own way of thinking and how she focuses on being constructive.
Be prepared for noise too.
“It’s really unavoidable. It will always be there. But the difference between good and good lies in how you can manage the noise and maintain balance in the midst of it,” explains A’ja. “What do you do in those moments? How can you truly be in harmony with yourself? And I think that’s very important for Gatorade as well. You have to be within yourself, focus on where you are, and then you can project that onto other people.”
Photo via Gatorade.
