Becky Hammon and Aces’ quartet win WNBA title
With their 78-71 win over the Connecticut Sun in Game Four of the WNBA Finals last Sunday, the Las Vegas Aces claimed their first WNBA Championship.
Leading Las Vegas to a successful season was first-year head coach Becky Hammon. Hammon played in the WNBA for sixteen seasons as a part of the Liberty and Stars before beginning her coaching career with the NBA’s Spurs in 2014.
Heading into this season, Aces’ head coach Bill Laimbeer stepped away from his role leading to Hammon taking the position. She quickly found success while claiming the No. 1 seed in the playoffs due to a 26-10 regular season record. Resulting was a waltz through a playoff where Las Vegas never faced elimination.
Hammon’s Finals victory also marks the first time a former WNBA player has won the championship as a coach and the first time a first-year head coach has won it all.
“Every hard thing that I’ve gone through has built something in me that I’ve needed down the road,” Hammon said following the win. “And even though it sucks in the moment to not to be picked or to get hurt or whatever it might be, the hard stuff builds stuff in you that’s necessary for life, and you’ll use it down the road.”
Helping Hammon was the Aces’ quartet of stars. Leading the pack is MVP and Defensive Player of the Year A’ja Wilson. Wilson’s MVP award is already the second of her young career. She averaged 19.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game in the regular season. And, as great players do, she improved in the Finals averaging 20 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game in the series.
Wilson is now just the second player in WNBA history to win MVP, DPOY, and a championship in the same season (Sheryl Swoopes in 2000). She is already becoming a face of the WNBA, and adding a ring to her resume is shooting her up the all-time ranks.
However, while Wilson was the best player in the league during the regular season, her teammate Chelsea Gray took home Finals MVP honors. Gray started the season slow and failed to make the All-Star game but finished as a top player in the league. In the Finals, she averaged 18.3 points per game on an astonishing 58.5 percent shooting on field goals and 45 percent shooting on 3-pointers. It didn’t matter what the defenses threw at her. She was knocking down contested shots the entire series. This is Gray’s second championship after winning with the Sparks in 2016.
Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young also played big roles for the Aces. Both players were named to the All-Star game for their regular season production. In the Finals, Plum averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. She was a major component of the Aces’ Game Two win when she scored 20 points and recorded seven assists. Young also finished the finals with an average of 12.8 points per game.
This championship may just mark the beginning for the Aces’ young core. With Hammon in her first year and the entire quartet still in their 20s, the future is bright in Las Vegas. A dynasty may very well be on the table.