The Las Vegas Aces had a rough start to the season. Despite bringing in some new stars to play with A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas came out of the gates slow. However, Wilson led the Aces on a comeback. A couple of weeks later, they dispatched the Indiana Fever to set up a WNBA Finals matchup with the Phoenix Mercury. Wilson credited the turnaround to Aces head coach Becky Hammon.
Fever forward Aliyah Boston made a bold prediction before Game 5 of the WNBA semifinals. However, Wilson put together a dominant performance, scoring 35 points and blocking four shots in a 107-98 win. Now, she gets to face Alyssa Thomas and the Mercury in the WNBA Finals. If the Aces win, it will mark their third championship in four seasons.
Wilson has been the vocal and emotional leader in Las Vegas all season long. She and Chelsea Gray helped to reignite the team's fire and guide them to a dominant finish. She spoke with ESPN's Kevin Pelton about the playoff run, saying that Hammon played a big role in the team's success. According to Wilson, the Aces are not done taking steps in their development as a squad.
“‘Obviously, we're not complacent,' league MVP A'ja Wilson said. ‘It's not an, ‘Oh, we're happy to be here,' because we worked our butts off to get here, but it does definitely feel a lot different than the ones before only because we went through the mud for this. Like Coach always says, we weren't necessarily buried, we were planted. We sometimes had to let the soil get moisture and then we had to grow. Now we're still growing,'” Wilson said.
The Aces' Game 5 win sets up an exciting WNBA Finals matchup against the Mercury. However, Las Vegas may have the trump card in the series if Wilson continues to play at an MVP level.
