Las Vegas Aces Make Sports History by Beating Connecticut Sun for WNBA Championship

By Brian Jones

The Las Vegas Aces are on top of the WNBA after beating the Connecticut Sun in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday. The Aces made history by winning the title as they became the first major professional sports team based in Las Vegas to win a championship. The Aces moved to Las Vegas in 2018 after spending time in San Antonio and Utah. They made the WNBA Finals in 2008 while in San Antonio but lost to the Detroit Stars. Aces coach Becky Hammon also made history, becoming the first person in WNBA history to win a title in her first season as head coach. Aces guard Chelsea Gray was named Finals MVP after averaging 18.3 points and six assists per game in the playoffs. 

"Really, first thing that you have to do in building a championship culture is to set a tone of accountability first and foremost," Hammon said, per WNBA.com. "Bringing people together for a common goal that's bigger than themselves, and then you've got to get the buy-in factor. My buy-in factor on each one of these women has been high, and I think they respond to me well. And you know, I try to be very clear with what their job is, what the expectation is. Then, everybody is held to the same line in the sense of nobody is shooting it over two, three people. Play the right way, and everybody wins, and when we win, everything else takes care of itself."  

"In training camp, you start making those habits and start creating that relationship," Gray added. "When the season starts, and you're in the thick of things, you have things to fall back on – what type of person, what type of competitor they are. So, she started off from the beginning, making sure she is not going to be easy on us, just making sure that we are ready when the time comes."  

The Aces were also led by A'ja Wilson who was named WNBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year for the 2022 season. "I always felt like Vegas set the standard, maybe because that's the only time I've been on," Wilson said. "When you have an owner like Mark [Davis] so dialed in and trustworthy of you and figuring out what can we do better, how can we do more or get people wanting to come to Vegas or just wanting to play better, the sky is the limit for our franchise."

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