Hammon and Aces won first WNBA Championship in Organization History

Becky Hammon and the Aces took home their first WNBA Championship Sunday night. The title came with a 78-71 win over the Connecticut Suns.

In Las Vegas’ pond of parties, the Aces are the big fish. 

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Viva Las Vegas

The Aces won the Commissioner’s Cup, a competition comprising the first half of the regular season. A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum, this year’s league MVP and All-Star Game MVP, wear the team’s red, black and gold on game days.

Las Vegas was the league’s top team all year, and it did not taste an elimination game in the WNBA Playoffs. Finals MVP Chelsea Gray’s 20 points led the team in the series clincher. Her 21.7 points and 7.0 assists per game were both good enough for second in the respective postseason categories. 

Delicious Delegation

For the team’s stars, the fullness of their victory can be found in what they did not do. League MVP Wilson did not lead the team in scoring during the regular season. Instead it was Kelsey Plum’s 20.2 points per game that led Las Vegas. Both took a backseat to Gray, who knocked down key shot after key shot in the postseason as the Aces forced their opponents to fold.

https://twitter.com/LVAces/status/1571846628956598274?s=20&t=6t-Q8jrz6wM1HOwLQtflNw

Big Time Becky

It was a full-circle moment for Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon. The six-time all-star and four-time all-WNBA guard failed to win a championship in her 16-year career despite making the playoffs in 13 of those years.  

Hammon split time with the New York Liberty and the San Antonio Stars, who relocated to Las Vegas in 2018, during her playing career. She made the finals only one time with San Antonio in 2008. The results this time around were much better. Hammon lost the 2008 finals in a 3-0 sweep by the Detroit Shock. 

From the three-point line to the sideline

 After her playing career, Hammon joined Popovich’s staff with the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach in 2014. She became the first female in the WNBA to ever have a full-time assistant coaching position. After eight years as an assistant coach, the opportunity for her to lead an NBA team of her own never arose.  

 The Aces retired Hammon’s jersey earlier in 2021 before hiring her at the very end of the year. It was thought that she wouldn’t leave the NBA as she was waiting for an opportunity to arise for her to become a head coach, but she had other plans. Hammon inked a $1 million dollar contract with Las Vegas to become their new head coach, the most ever for a WNBA deal. 

All in

That money was well spent by the Aces as Hammon went on to win coach of the year for the 2022 season. She also became the first coach in WNBA history to win the title in their first year with a team.  

Now, she and the rest of the Aces will hoist the trophy and celebrate before they get ready to run it back next year.