There are times when the game becomes a battle of wills and you either have it in you or you don’t. But Aja Wilson didn’t work so hard just to get one this away. Even as a two-time WNBA champion, there is still more to do, more to accomplish, more to win, more to work for.
He’s grappled with the same question driving Gatorade’s latest campaign, which harkens back to the brand’s heyday when Michael Jordan drank Citrus Cooler from Gatorade glass bottles. He has been tested, pushed and proven. He peaked, built a dynasty and became an icon. Those tests resonate deeply with Aja’s journey, those moments of clarity when you have to choose: dig deeper or be satisfied. And Aja Wilson is never satisfied.
As proof of the latter, he points to the 2023 WNBA Finals. “I think the last championship was one thing IT: really tested a lot. You either got it or you didn’t. Your preparation prepares you for this moment,” Wilson tells SLAM.
That perspective was evident in mid-April when she was filming the ad that’s running as you read this. Taking it back to the late ’90s, Gatorade has revived its Is It In You? the song. a 60-second campaign featuring A’ja alongside the brand’s roster of elite athletes.
When the brand presented him with a marketing deck that incorporated the vibes and energy of the revised concept, A’ja was more than impressed. He felt connected.
“I can’t even tell you how excited I am that we’re bringing it back to vintage, like the old school that we really grew up on,” Wilson tells SLAM. “Being a ’90s kid, growing up and seeing MJ, seeing all the other athletes, and now finally being in it and being a part of the commercials that I used to watch, and now I’m going to be a part of it. the family as a whole, it was very exciting.”
We got it exceptional that A’ja was joining Gatorade’s elite roster in early May. With the brand’s history of fueling athletes for decades, Wilson wants to showcase her image and that of her fellow athletes.
“I think when you look at this list and you look at the things that we’re doing with Gatorade, it’s kind of like ‘yeah, we grew up on it, but really we has grown up about this. We really came of age on this one drink, and now here we are repeating it, and it’s really amazing,” Aja tells SLAM. “There are a lot of people who see our list and see the accolades and say, oh my god, they’re the elite of the elite. But they may not see that we have whole people sailing around the world. So yeah, just to see the human side of it, the kid side of it, A’ja’s tweets, like no, they’re still people at the end of the day.”
It’s been nearly 30 years since Gatorade highlighted IT: within their athletes. As the landscape has changed, so has the brand’s mission for its modernized campaign. Today’s athlete travels with a barrage of external pressures and expectations. from social networks to finding the perfect team or training situation in an ecosystem full of endless possibilities.
For Ajay, her authenticity as an athlete, and as a black woman, is ever-present. It is what anchors him to his why. She is true, hilarious and unapologetically herself. Over the years, he has navigated these moments with both grace and dominance. His will has been tested, questioned and praised, and as he explains his mindset and how he focuses on the constructive, the Las Vegas Aces’ team motto from last season resurfaces.
Be willing through the noise.
“You can’t really escape it, it’s always going to be there. But the difference between good and great is how you manage that noise, how you stay prepared through it,” Aja explains. “What do you do in those moments? How can you truly be in harmony with yourself? And I think that’s so important, even when it comes to Gatorade. You have to be good and focused on where you are, so you can show it to everyone.”
Photos via Gatorade.
