PHOENIX — Las Vegas Aces Head Coach Becky Hammon had sleepless nights filled with tears when her team was 14-14 midway through the WNBA season.
Fast forward two months, and she is now crying for an entirely different reason.
The Aces held off a late charge by the Phoenix Mercury to earn the 97-86 victory and claim the franchise’s third WNBA title in four years, completing one of the greatest turnaround seasons in league history.
A’ja Wilson poured in 31 points and shot 89 percent from the floor. The league’s first four-time MVP became a two-time finals MVP and further cemented her legacy as one of the G.O.A.T.S. and her team as the next dynasty.
“You have your Mount Rushmore, she’s alone on Everest,” Hammon said of Wilson. “There’s no one around.”
Hammon has led her team to the WNBA Finals three out of the past four years and holds the highest win percentage in WNBA Finals history.
“I’m invested in their greatness and getting that out of them every day,” Hammon said. “This one hits different because it was different. There was probably a lot more adversity than any of us anticipated.”
This championship run was truly different for Las Vegas, which sat at .500 following a WNBA record 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
“To be here right now, and where we were in May and June,” Aces guard Chelsea Gray said. “We had confidence in each other. I’m just really proud of how we just stayed the course.”
Staying the course is something Hammon learned from former San Antonio Spurs Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich. She’s fostered relationships as Pop did with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. However, she is also making her own path, and it is a historic one.
The question is, can the Aces go back-to-back?
With Hammon and Wilson at the helm, anything is possible in Las Vegas.
