Iliana

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A look at some of the WNBA players participating in the FIBA Women&#8217;s Basketball World Cup 2018, Sept. 22-30 in Tenerife, Spain!
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Uncategorized

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-205459" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/Thumbnail-2025-10-22T091402.509.png" alt="" width="2000" height="1125" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/Thumbnail-2025-10-22T091402.509.png 2000w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/Thumbnail-2025-10-22T091402.509-1536x864.png 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" />
NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2025 – Golden State Valkyries president Jess Smith has been named the inaugural recipient of the WNBA Business Executive Leadership Award presented by Deloitte, the WNBA announced today.
The new award recognizes a WNBA team president, nominated by their organization, who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in driving meaningful business transformation.
Teams submitted their business case for how the leader, and their team, excelled across four key business transformation categories including people and culture, revenue generation, stakeholder engagement, and innovation. All submissions were reviewed and voted upon by a committee of league leadership, led by Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison.
In Golden State’s inaugural season, Smith assembled a full-time front office staff of more than 60 employees dedicated to elevating women’s sports while fostering growth and retention opportunities across the organization. On March 26, 2025, the Valkyries eclipsed the 10,000-season ticket mark for season ticket holders of the team&#8217;s inaugural 2025 season, becoming the first WNBA team on record to hit this milestone. The Valkyries closed their first season by setting all-time WNBA records for both average attendance (18,064) and total attendance (397,408), selling out all 22 of their home regular-season games at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Smith also helped establish a robust roster of founding partners, including CarMax, JP Morgan Chase, Kaiser Permanente, OLLY, PG&amp;E, Sephora, United Airlines, Rakuten and Waymo. Additionally, the Valkyries sold merchandise in all 50 states and 70 countries.
Under Smith’s leadership, the Valkyries launched impactful community engagement initiatives. including an innovative partnership with Kaiser Permanente that generated a $25 [matching] donation to the Golden State Community Foundation for every jersey purchased. This program will donate the funds to Bay Area youth and has transformed merchandise revenue into a vehicle for social impact, funding research-based initiatives and coaching workshops designed to keeping young girls active.
Smith also oversaw the team’s local broadcast partnership, which introduced creative programming and community engagement activations, that gave fans unprecedented access throughout the season. The partnership extended the Valkyries’ reach to more than four million fans across Northern California.
Capping off a historic inaugural season, the Valkyries became the first WNBA expansion franchise to earn a playoff berth and the winningest expansion team in league history with 23 wins.
###

smith-business-executive-leadership-award-2025

Golden State Valkyries President Jess Smith Wins Inaugural WNBA Business Executive Leadership Award Presented by Deloitte

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Photo Gallery: Las Vegas Aces 2025 WNBA Championship Parade

Press Release

&#8211;League’s Midseason Showcase Heads Back to the Windy City with Full Slate of Fan and Community Events&#8211;
NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2025 – The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced today that the City of Chicago has been selected to host the 2026 AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game, marking the second time the Windy City will welcome the league’s premier midseason event.
The 2026 AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game will take place on Saturday, July 25 at United Center.
“The WNBA is thrilled to bring AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star back to Chicago, which will undoubtedly deliver unforgettable competition and community outreach,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “Together with the Chicago Sky, we look forward to celebrating the game’s brightest stars, engaging WNBA fans around the world, and showcasing the energy of one of basketball’s most iconic cities.”
&#8220;The Chicago Sky are thrilled to welcome the 2026 WNBA All-Star game back to Chicago.  We can’t wait to build on the success of the previous All-Star game and celebrate the explosive growth of the league by showcasing the WNBA’s biggest stars on a world-class stage,” Chicago Sky Chief Executive Officer and President Adam Fox said. “We are so excited to welcome fans from around the globe to the WNBA All-Star game in our beautiful city with its storied basketball legacy. We are appreciative of everyone who worked with us to make this event happen.”
In addition to the game, fans will enjoy a multi-day lineup of events and activations across the city, including:
<ul>
<li>The 3-Point Contest and Kia WNBA Skills Challenge, which will take place on Friday, July 24 at Wintrust Arena, home of the Chicago Sky.</li>
<li>WNBA Live, the league’s interactive fan festival featuring player appearances, performances, and celebrating the WNBA’s intersection with fashion, music and culture, will take place at McCormick Place.</li>
<li>Community impact events highlighting the WNBA’s commitment to youth engagement around Chicago and at the Sky’s brand-new practice facility in Bedford Park.</li>
</ul>
Further details, including ticket information and the complete schedule of events, will be announced in the coming months. Tickets for all events for AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star will go on sale in 2026.
# # #

att-all-star-chicago-2026

AT&T WNBA All-Star Returning to Chicago in 2026

2025 Playoffs

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Editor&#8217;s Note: Read more WNBA coverage from the Athletic <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/wnba/">here</a>. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the WNBA or its teams.
***
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-205369" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2240353739-1.jpg" alt="A'ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces celebrates with head coach Becky Hammon after winning Game Four of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs finals" width="960" height="640" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2240353739-1.jpg 5315w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2240353739-1-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />
PHOENIX — For a while, Becky Hammon grew used to being overlooked. Not recruited by the biggest college programs, undrafted by the WNBA and perpetually passed over by NBA teams looking for head coaches.
It ate at her. Hammon is hypercompetitive, the product of a household that made everything into a game. Nothing was fun unless you were keeping score.
“No one ever picks me,” Hammon said during her first season in Las Vegas.
The Aces, however, did. They moved on from head coach Bill Laimbeer, who had won three WNBA championships and picked Hammon as their future coach, the person to lead them in their next chapter.
Now, Hammon is the standard of excellence in the WNBA, the owner of the greatest coaching record in finals history (10-2) as Las Vegas collected its third title in four years in a sweep of the Phoenix Mercury with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6708093/2025/10/10/las-vegas-aces-wnba-championship-sweep-phoenix-mercury/" data-index="0">Friday night’s 97-86 victory</a>. She is one of four coaches in WNBA history to win three titles. The league’s newest dynasty is a product of her creation.
Hammon was a Hall of Fame player. She trained under one of the best coaches in NBA history, serving as an assistant under Gregg Popovich for seven seasons and having a front-row seat to the rapid evolution of the modern game. Her basketball bona fides and her understanding of the X’s and O’s are unimpeachable. Hammon knows how to push the right buttons on the court with her team.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“This one hits different because it is different.” 🥹
— Becky Hammon after the <a href="https://twitter.com/LVAces?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LVAces</a> championship-clinching Game 4 performance.
 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBAFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBAFinals</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTubeTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YouTubeTV</a> <a href="https://t.co/dJv4I6RI5U">pic.twitter.com/dJv4I6RI5U</a>
&mdash; WNBA (@WNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WNBA/status/1976882547650068953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
She coached a masterclass series against the Mercury. Turning to a zone defense in the second half of Game 1 suffocated Phoenix’s offense, denying Alyssa Thomas the middle of the floor and turning the tide of the game. The defensive adjustments on the Mercury’s middle pick-and-roll, with the guards digging in on Thomas’ dribble, continued to fluster Phoenix throughout.
In the third game, already armed with a 2-0 lead, Hammon went for the jugular. The Aces had poor starts in both of their wins, so she made a preemptive adjustment with a box-and-one on Kahleah Copper. It had the dual outcomes of helping her team lock in at the beginning of the game to implement a new defense and further confuse the Mercury’s offense.
“We ran into a team that has been through it together. We ran into a team that had the ultimate belief and trust that they could get it done as a unit with a great coach that has been through this,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said.
Despite winning with a sweep, this is arguably not even the best finals series Hammon has coached, considering she won a clinching game on the road in 2023 without two starters, designing a new scheme on the fly and trusting that her team would respond.
However, it was the intangibles Hammon brought to Las Vegas that allowed a team that was knocking on the door — a finals loss in 2020 and semifinals defeats in 2019 and 2021 — to push through into immortality.
The Aces love Hammon for her creativity and the specific ways she works with each player.
“She does a really good job of just finding ways to connect with each player, finding different ways for us to stay focused,” Aces guard Jewell Loyd said. “But also, it’s never boring, whether it’s an animal analogy and just finding ways to connect, whether it’s music, art or storytelling.”
Hammon’s father was a storyteller. She said he once told her and her siblings the plot of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” on a family road trip, but changed the names of the characters to the names of his children. He always wanted to make sure there was a lesson in every tale. Hammon has commissioned the Las Vegas content team to produce videos that tell a story for her players; none resonated more than a midseason feature titled “The Champions Who Lost Their Way.” on many occasions, Hammon went back to that video for motivation.
Hammon gave each player a plant with a special message on it at the start of the season. For Kierstan Bell, who had just lost her father, the message was to “keep choosing joy.” Most of the players didn’t have green thumbs and weren’t accustomed to caring for plants, especially with their itinerant lifestyles. But they honed in on a new challenge — Loyd, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray all bragged to Hammon on the championship podium that their plants are still alive — and ran with the metaphor all season of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6679057/2025/10/01/las-vegas-aces-wnba-finals-return/" data-index="7">being planted, not buried.</a>
When Las Vegas was struggling earlier in the season, she had the players watch the movie Thunderbirds, a film about the U.S. Air Force squadron. The goal was for the players to see blind trust in action, a feeling they were missing on the court. It was an ethos Hammon tried to reinforce with an egg-walking activity where players were blindfolded on a mat with their teammates and had to navigate to the other side backwards without crushing any eggs.
There are many other Hammon-isms in her inspirational toolkit: animal analogies, the acronyms and more. One of her pet words of choice is “grace” — each Aces player has to run her race and be given grace. The path may not have been what they expected at the beginning of the season, but it was their specific journey.
“It’s not just her basketball mind, it’s because she can form relationships and bonds,” finals MVP A’ja Wilson said. “That’s when you see winning cultures is when your leader is so poured into you. You want to win and play for her, so we’re grateful. Obviously, (Hammon) keeps bringing championships to Vegas, and we’re just happy to be on the ride.”
In the modern era of the WNBA, Las Vegas is the standard, the team the rest of the league continues to chase. Hammon may have come from humble beginnings, but there is nothing ordinary or overlooked about her story now.
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/sabreena-merchant/" aria-label="Sabreena Merchant's Author Page">Sabreena Merchant</a> is a women&#8217;s basketball Staff Writer for The Athletic. She previously covered the WNBA and NBA for SB Nation. Sabreena is an alum of Duke University, where she wrote for the independent student newspaper, The Chronicle. She is based in Los Angeles. Follow Sabreena on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/sabreenajm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Follow Sabreena on Twitter">@sabreenajm</a>

becky-hammon-architect-wnba-dynasty

How Las Vegas Aces Coach Becky Hammon Became Architect of a WNBA Dynasty

Led by a record-shattering performance from 2025 WNBA League and Finals MVP A&#8217;ja Wilson, the Las Vegas Aces swept the Phoenix Mercury (4-0) in the inaugural best-of-seven Finals series in the 2025 WNBA Finals Presented by YouTube TV. The Aces concluded an unprecedented season with a historic Finals run, capturing their third WNBA championship in four years 
Check out some of the records and accolades the Aces collected through their 2025 Finals campaign.
<hr />
Game 2
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Jackie Young tallied the most-ever points in an individual quarter of a WNBA Finals game (21 PTS in Q3)
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Previously: Angel McCoughtry &#8211; 19 PTS in 3Q of 2011 Finals Game 1</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A&#8217;ja Wilson &amp; Jackie Young (60) combined for the second-most points by duo in Finals history
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">1. Jewell Loyd (28) &amp; Breanna Stewart (37) Game 1 of 2020 Finals (65 combined)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">2. A&#8217;ja Wilson (28) &amp; Jackie Young (32)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-205338" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239057636-2.jpg" alt="A'ja Wilson #22 high fives Jackie Young #0 of the Las Vegas Aces during the game against the Phoenix Mercury during Game 2 of the 2025 WNBA Finals" width="960" height="640" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239057636-2.jpg 4428w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239057636-2-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239057636-2-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />
<hr />
Game 3
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A&#8217;ja Wilson (50) passed Napheesa Collier (48) for the most combined steals and blocks in a single playoff run
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">1. A&#8217;ja Wilson &#8211; 55 BLK &amp; STL (12 games in 2025)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">2. Napheesa Collier &#8211; 48 BLK &amp; STL (12 games in 2024)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">3. Tamika Catchings &#8211; 47 BLK &amp; STL (10 games in 2009)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A’ja Wilson set the WNBA record for most total points in a single playoff run
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Top 5 all-time playoff scoring totals:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A’ja Wilson: 287 PTS (11 games, 2025)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Napheesa Collier: 285 PTS (12 games, 2024)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Diana Taurasi: 245 PTS (11 games, 2009)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Brittney Griner: 240 PTS (11 games, 2021)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Maya Moore: 234 PTS (10 games, 2015)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A&#8217;ja Wilson’s game-winning shot was just the fourth game-winning basket in the final second of the 4th quarter (since 2006) or second half (before 2006) of a Finals game, joining:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Alana Beard: Game 1 of 2016 WNBA Finals (0:00 4Q, LAS 78 MIN 76)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Maya Moore: Game 3 of 2015 WNBA Finals (0:00 4Q, MIN 80 IND 77)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Sabrina Ionescu: Game 3 of 2024 WNBA Finals (0:01 4Q, NYL 80 MIN 77)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-205339" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2240122350.jpg" alt="A'ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces shoots the game-winning basket during Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals against the Phoenix Mercury" width="960" height="720" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2240122350.jpg 3600w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2240122350-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2240122350-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2240122350-1536x1152.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />
<hr />
Game 4
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">The Las Vegas Aces finished 145-52 across regular season and playoffs dating back to the beginning of the 2022 season, the best in the league over that span:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Las Vegas Aces: 145-52 (.736)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">New York Liberty: 123-64 (.658)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Minnesota Lynx: 108-73 (.597)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">The Las Vegas Aces (2022, 2023, 2025) are the second franchise to win three championships in a 4-season span, joining the Houston Comets (1997-2000).
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">They are the 7th WNBA team to have at least 3 WNBA Finals Championships to their name, joining:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Minnesota Lynx (4)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Houston Comets (4)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Seattle Storm (4)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Los Angeles Sparks (3)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Phoenix Mercury (3)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Detroit Shock (3)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">The Las Vegas Aces finished the season 25-3 over their last 28 games, becoming just the 4th WNBA champion to do so and the first since 2014, joining some of the greatest teams in league history:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">1998 Houston Comets</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">2001 Los Angeles Sparks</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">2014 Phoenix Mercury</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">2025 Las Vegas Aces</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Becky Hammon (2022, 2023, 2025) becomes the fourth coach in league history to have three or more WNBA Championships, joining:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Van Chancellor: 4x (1997-2000)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Cheryl Reeve: 4x (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Bill Laimbeer: 3x (2003, 2006, 2008)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Among the six coaches with at least 10 Finals games coached, Becky Hammon has the highest win %:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Becky Hammon: 10-2 (.833)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Brian Agler: 8-5 (.615)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Cheryl Reeve: 17-13 (.567)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Bill Laimbeer: 10-9 (.526)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Sandy Brondello: 8-8 (.500)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Mike Thibault: 5-10 (.333)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Jewell Loyd becomes a champion for the third time (2018, 2020, 2025) and is the only player in WNBA history to record a 10-0 record in Finals games.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Top 5 by winning % (min. 10 GP):
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Jewell Loyd: 10-0 (1.000)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Sue Bird: 11-1 (.917)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Alysha Clark: 9-1 (.900)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Monica Wright: 7-3 (.700)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Penny Taylor: 9-4 (.682)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-205346" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239851880.jpg" alt="The Las Vegas Aces players holds up the 2025 WNBA Championship trophy after winning against the Phoenix Mercury during Game 4 of the 2025 WNBA Finals" width="960" height="640" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239851880.jpg 5388w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239851880-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A&#8217;ja Wilson (114 PTS) tallied the most points in a single Finals series across WNBA history, passing Cappie Pondexter&#8217;s record set in 2007.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A&#8217;ja Wilson &#8211; 114 across four games in 2025</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Cappie Pondexter &#8211; 110 PTS across five games in 2007 w/ PHX</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A&#8217;ja Wilson (120) recorded the most rebounds in a single postseason across WNBA history, passing Jonquel Jones:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A&#8217;ja Wilson: 120 in 2025</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Jonquel Jones: 116 in 2023</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Alyssa Thomas: 114 in 2022</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A’ja Wilson (28.5 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.0 BPG, 1 SPG) becomes the only player in WNBA Finals history to average 25+ points and 10+ rebounds across a WNBA Finals series.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A’ja Wilson becomes the sixth player to win multiple WNBA Finals MVPs, joining:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Cynthia Cooper – 4x (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Lisa Leslie – 2x (2001, 2002)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Diana Taurasi – 2x (2009, 2014)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Sylvia Fowles – 2x (2015, 2017)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Breanna Stewart – 2x (2018, 2020)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400"> She joins Stewart as the only player to do so before turning 30.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A’ja Wilson is the first player in WNBA history to win Defensive Player of the Year, MVP, and Finals MVP in the same season</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">A’ja Wilson tallied her third MVP and third WNBA Championship since 2022, joining Bill Russell as the only players across NBA / WNBA history to total 3 of each across a 4-season span. Russell did this 3x in his career:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">1959-60–1962-63</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">1960-61–1963-64</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">1961-62–1964-65</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-205347" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239862404.jpg" alt="A'ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces poses for a portrait with the 2025 WNBA Finals MVP Award trophy after winning the 2025 WNBA Championship " width="960" height="640" />

las-vegas-aces-finals-accolades-2025

History: The Las Vegas Aces' 2025 Finals Accolades

In an elimination game in the Semi-Finals against the Indiana Fever, something shifted for the Las Vegas Aces. It wasn’t just an A’ja Wilson lock-in that helped the Aces get over the hump that was the ridiculously resilient Fever, but contributions from her “supporting cast” that got Las Vegas to yet another championship series &#8211; their fifth appearance since the calendar turned to 2020.
Supporting cast is also a highly disrespectful way to describe the talent of Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, two veterans who have now experienced three championships in four years with one another, and with Wilson. The duo lifted the Aces past the Fever in overtime in that series, both combining for 49 points, 16 assists, four steals, and six rebounds in the win. 
Those three, as talented as they are, were also led and supported by one of the greatest coaches in WNBA history in Becky Hammon. She’s a huge part of why the Aces can never, ever, be counted out. Along the way this year, as Wilson said in her postgame press conference following the team’s series win, Hammon’s leadership was key to keeping this team afloat through a tumultuous 2025. 
<div id="attachment_205320" style="width: 970px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-205320" class="wp-image-205320" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239854533.jpg" alt="Head Coach Becky Hammon, A'ja Wilson #22, Chelsea Gray #12 and Jackie Young #0 of the Las Vegas Aces speak to the media following Game Four of the 2025 WNBA Finals" width="960" height="640" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239854533.jpg 8241w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239854533-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />Head Coach Becky Hammon, A&#8217;ja Wilson #22, Chelsea Gray #12 and Jackie Young #0 of the Las Vegas Aces speak to the media following Game Four of the 2025 WNBA Finals</div>
“Becky has done tremendous things for this franchise. And, it’s not just her basketball mind. It’s the way she can form relationships and bonds with people, and I think that’s what you see in winning cultures. Your leader is so important to you. You want to win and play for her. So, we’re grateful, obviously. You keep bringing championships to Vegas. We’re just happy to be on the ride with you,” said Wilson. 
In addition to Wilson and Hammon’s elite leadership throughout this year, Gray, who is going to go down as one of the best point guards in WNBA history, finished up her immaculate postseason by moving up to 7th place all-time on the Finals scoring list with 298 points. She also moved into 3rd place all-time in steals in the Finals with 34, 8th all-time for total playoff games played with 65, and 3rd all time in Aces franchise history postseason scoring with 616 points. 
Young, to boot, tied Sue Bird during the postseason with the most postseason games with at least five assists in the first quarter of a contest with four. 
This big three, which at one was part of an Aces team headed into the All-Star break heralding a  14-14 record and an abysmal chance at even making the postseason, let alone winning the Finals, seemed to become a different team. They won 16 straight games after experiencing a 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx back in August, motivated to not let the year end on such a low note.
<div id="attachment_205321" style="width: 970px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-205321" class="wp-image-205321" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239851807.jpg" alt="A'ja Wilson #22, Jackie Young #0, and Chelsea Gray #12 of the Las Vegas Aces pose for a photo with the 2025 WNBA Championship trophy" width="960" height="640" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239851807.jpg 5580w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239851807-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />A&#8217;ja Wilson #22, Jackie Young #0, and Chelsea Gray #12 of the Las Vegas Aces pose for a photo with the 2025 WNBA Championship trophy</div>
When asked what made this championship a bit sweeter for all involved, Gray said the journey &#8211; with its .500 twists and streaky turns &#8211; has led to this Finals victory becoming one for the books for Las Vegas. 
“To be here right now, and where we were in May and June, there was a lot of doubt in that locker room. But, we had confidence in each other. I’m just really proud of how we stayed the course and trusted the process the entire time.”
That confidence, oozed mainly by Wilson en route to her fourth Most Valuable Player victory and another Defensive Player of the Year honor, changed the landscape of the postseason entirely. Las Vegas, previously sleepwalking through the season, had suddenly emerged as a powerhouse to fear once again. They climbed over the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty in the stands, snagging the 2nd seed after nearly landing on the outside looking in.
In addition to Wilson, Gray, and Young completely re-shaping the outcome of the Aces season, smaller moves that underwhelmed some ended up becoming paramount to their resurgence. Signing Dana Evans, a championship-experienced veteran guard, and NaLyssa Smith, a proper backup forward to Wilson, ended up helping Las Vegas solve one of their biggest issues headed into the 2025 season &#8211; the lack of a cohesive bench unit.  
Evans finished up the postseason averaging 8.4 points per game and 2.9 assists per game on 53.3 percent shooting from three point range and 46.8 percent shooting from the field overall. Smith, on the way to winning her first championship in her fourth season in the WNBA, averaged 7.1 points per game, five rebounds, and one block in 23 minutes per game. 
Adding another former champion in Jewell Loyd to that bench &#8211; acquired in a blockbuster trade to kick off the season &#8211; was simply unfair. She managed to spark the Aces’ offense in key moments along their playoff run, hitting threes at a clip of 41.3 percent on 5.3 attempts per game. Someone of Loyd&#8217;s talent getting moved to the bench could’ve been a misfire &#8211; instead, it brought her back to life on the court. 
<div id="attachment_205322" style="width: 970px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-205322" class="wp-image-205322" src="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239854759.jpg" alt="Dana Evans #11 of the Las Vegas Aces holds up the 2025 WNBA Championship trophy" width="960" height="640" srcset="https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239854759.jpg 7407w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239854759-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2025/10/GettyImages-2239854759-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" />Dana Evans #11 of the Las Vegas Aces holds up the 2025 WNBA Championship trophy</div>
This Finals series was set to be a far more competitive one. A sweep was seemingly out of the question between a 2 seed and a 4 seed. You would’ve been hard pressed to find a prediction regarding this series that didn’t include the phrases “it’ll be hard fought,” or “this is going to seven games.”
The Phoenix Mercury, with their own hardware and history, looked primed to get their first championship trophy since 2014. Health was on their side to begin this series &#8211; but, it was also on the side of the Aces. In a postseason of attrition, we were seeing the two teams that managed to stay relatively healthy in the Finals. 
While we did get to see some competitive bouts between these two squads in this series &#8211; Game 3 ending on a game-winning shot from Wilson, and Game 1 being decided by just three points &#8211; you knew that this was the Aces series to lose. 
Their big three came out as the most consistent against Phoenix’s own star trio in Alyssa Thomas, Kahleah Copper, and Satou Sabally. Sabally, who unfortunately went down in Game 3 with a scary concussion, couldn’t get back in time for Game 4 and Phoenix’s last push to try and prevent a sweep. 
Las Vegas, as they have in their last three championships, came out as the most cohesive, chemistry-filled, and motivated team between the two vying to hoist the championship trophy at halfcourt. Their dynasty is officially set in stone. And, you can just tell they’re not done dominating with this core just yet.

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