"I Wuv You!"
They were the three words that melted America as a video of four-time WNBA MVP and three-time champion A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, surprising her biggest fan on the Jennifer Hudson Show, went viral.
Four-year-old superfan Iman Taylor and his mother, Bianca, sat with Hudson and talked about how they became fans of the Las Vegas Aces and Wilson.
Bianca Taylor said she played basketball in middle and high school, and her love for the sport spilled over to her son.
Hudson asked Iman Taylor, who was donning Wilson's No. 22 jersey he had recently received, why he calls her "his girl" and what's so special about her. To which he replied: "'Cause I love her super much."
The adorable young fan told Hudson he wanted just one thing for his upcoming fifth birthday: To meet A'ja!
.@_ajawilson22 surprises her biggest (and youngest) fan! pic.twitter.com/wEH4WePvgT
— The Jennifer Hudson Show (@JHudShow) November 10, 2025
When Hudson asked Taylor if she could give him an early birthday gift, Wilson emerged from backstage and the two embraced when her young fan sprinted toward her and leapt into her arms.
"It's one of the reasons I love what I do, I really do," Wilson told Hudson. "Just to bring people together, to bring smiles on people's faces and to do what I love and to see them just beam with so much joy and give them a chance to dream and believe in themselves.
"If I can be just a beacon of light for them just to be able to be like, 'You know what, I can do that,' that is the real reason. I love it."
While it was the highlight moment of the episode, Wilson went on to discuss her career, which has been non-stop since arriving in the league in 2018, from being a New York Times best-selling author, to winning four MVP trophies and three championships, the release of her signature Nike shoe and ultimately becoming the face of t he WNBA.
"God has blessed me to be in this position and to just perform and entertain ... to bring some smiles to people's faces from all over the world," Wilson told Hudson. "And I think that's what makes me have so much fun with the game. ... When you can look around and see young kids wearing your jersey or even your shoes, like, that really just makes you go."
THAT WAS HER
When Lisa Leslie was winning back-to-back WNBA titles in 2001 and 2002, Wilson was a 5-year-old girl in South Carolina watching with stars in her eyes.
When Candace Parker won her first WNBA MVP trophy as a rookie in 2008, Wilson was 11, still watching and admiring in South Carolina was 11.
Wilson remembers doing whatever she could to watch the WNBA when coverage was limited, and realized the importance of being a role model with the league squarely in the spotlight of all major professional sports when she saw then 9-year-old aspiring sideline reporter Pepper Persley wearing an A'ja Wilson uniform as a Halloween costume in 2020.
"That’s when it just hit me; the effects that can go on," Wilson said during a 2021 conversation with WGRamirez.com. "I’m like, 'Oh my, God. That’s so powerful.' I was overwhelmed just by that one picture, just because someone wants to be me, or someone thinks I have that effect enough to where they want to dress like me. I think that’s when it really hit me."
During that same interview, Wilson said her message quickly took a specific direction.
"I want to be a part of a bunch of other Black women to help the next generation, to see us, understand that we’re out here, we’re doing things, and you’re fully capable of doing it as well."
SHE'S NEVER CHANGED
It was in 2023 when Wilson panned the crowd with a piercing glare, looking for her target.
Wearing the same trademark ear-to-ear grin she wore when Taylor raced into her arms on the Jennifer Hudson Show, she autographed a balled-up T-shirt and hand-delivered it to an adoring little fan jumping gleefully while awaiting Wilson’s arrival.
"If we can put smiles on young kids' faces and let them know that they can be us one day, it’s a lot of fun, and it helps when we’re winning," Wilson said. "But even if we’re not, I’m always gonna try to have fun in this game."
It's what Wilson has continually said since being drafted in 2018.
It's never been about her, and she's made that clear.
She's always made it about her teammates, the rookies coming in, the newest acquisitions when they arrive in Las Vegas, the fans, her family... whomever. Just not her.
And she's always made it crystal clear the Aces wouldn't be wearing championship rings - now three of them - if not for her fans.
"She's had a responsibility on her shoulders and she’s managed that with care," Chelsea Gray told The Sporting Tribune during a 2023 interview about Wilson and her interaction with Las Vegas' fanbase. "With the fans, with kids screaming - she makes time for every single person. That’s a character of who that person is."