It’s extremely difficult to three-peat in professional sports. The last team to win three consecutive championships across all major U.S. sports was the NBA’s Lakers from 2000 to 2002.
The Las Vegas Aces learned that lesson Sunday when they were eliminated in four games in the best-of-five semifinals of the WNBA playoffs by the New York Liberty, the same team—with the same core group of stars—the Aces beat to win last year’s title.
The Aces also brought back the same core of players. A’ja Wilson led the way and had arguably the best season of her career, and she was flanked by Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray—all multiple-time All-Stars. Head coach Becky Hammon has been steering the ship from the sidelines since 2022 and hadn’t lost a playoff series until now.
The team’s biggest loss was Candace Parker, who retired, but she was injured during their championship run last year. Still, the Aces finished with a 27–13 regular-season mark and clinched a No. 4 seed.
However, the Aces dealt with issues on and off the court that led to a different result at the end of the season.
Legal Woes
The Aces are embroiled in two ongoing investigations.
Last season, former Aces forward Dearica Hamby, who was a part of the team’s 2022 championship roster, filed a complaint with the WNBA claiming she was discriminated against and eventually traded to the Los Angeles Sparks after she announced her pregnancy in 2022. The investigation led to the Aces losing their 2025 first-round pick and a two-game suspension for Hammon.
That issue spilled into this season after Hamby filed a federal lawsuit against the league and the Aces in August. Hammon has continued to deny any mistreatment of Hamby—but the situation grew to the point that the three-time All-Star was booed by fans in Las Vegas when the Sparks faced the Aces last month.
In May, the WNBA also launched an investigation against the Aces regarding a pledge made by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to pay each player $100,000 for two seasons in exchange for promoting the city.
The agreement would violate the league’s CBA if the Aces organization were involved in the negotiation. The team claims it had no knowledge of the LVCVA’s plans despite the public announcement of the deal taking place in the team’s facility.
Changes Coming
While Wilson had a historic campaign, the team’s offensive rating fell by nearly seven points this season. Plum, Gray, and Young all saw their field goal percentages drop by at least 5% versus last year—and the latter two had their three-point percentages fall by 9% and 11%, respectively.
Following the team’s elimination, Hammon admitted the Aces expect to make roster changes before next season.
“It’s not going to be the same group probably next year. It just won’t,” Hammon said.
