The Las Vegas Aces only needed four.
Becky Hammon’s squad won the WNBA Finals on Friday night in Phoenix, capping a remarkable turnaround for a team that, in August, sat at ninth in the league standings. The Aces beat the Mercury 97–86 in Game 4.
Before the ball was even tipped, the advantage belonged to the Aces. In the stands, enough fans made the 330-mile trip south from Las Vegas to Phoenix that MVP chants overtook Mortgage Matchup Arena when four-time MVP A’ja Wilson appeared from the tunnel for warmups. On the court, the Mercury were without their leading scorer, forward Satou Sabally, after she was ruled out with a concussion following a collision during Game 3.
The Aces were in control through all four quarters. Even as the Mercury mounted a comeback in the final frame—cutting their deficit to six points—following the ejection of coach Nate Tibbetts, the Aces’ dominance prevailed.
After missing the Finals last year, the Aces redeemed themselves with their third WNBA championship in four years led by Wilson, who was named Finals MVP and had 31 points in Friday’s game. On the road to the Finals, Las Vegas won series against Seattle 2–1 and Indiana 3–2.
Game 1 on Oct. 3 drew 1.9 million viewers on ESPN, the second-highest audience for a WNBA Finals game since 2000, and the best Game 1 audience since the league’s inaugural 1997 season (when the championship was only one game). Game 2 drew 1.2 million average viewers, and Wednesday’s Game 3 earned 1.3 million viewers. The WNBA playoffs sit in a busy stretch of the sports calendar: Game 2 went up against the NFL slate, while Game 3 battled for viewers with MLB playoffs and NHL season openers.
The Aces’ victory marks the last WNBA game under the current collective bargaining agreement, set to expire at the end of the month. CBA negotiations have been an undercurrent throughout the season—captured most visibly by the players’ “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts at the All-Star Game—but boiled over during the playoffs. Last week, Lynx star Napheesa Collier ripped the league and commissioner Cathy Engelbert, saying the WNBA has the “worst leadership in the world.” Engelbert responded by denying some of the comments Collier said she had made, after which the Unrivaled cofounder canceled a planned meeting between the two women.
Players are asking for higher salaries and a revenue-sharing system that is tied to league revenue. They have said the league’s proposals have not reflected their demands.
