The Las Vegas Aces have a lot to celebrate: the 3-time WNBA Champions completely swept the Phoenix Mercury to finish out was a turbulent, thrilling, and ultimately victorious 2025 season. The team was led by Becky Hammon, who was brought on as head coach in December 2021.
Most of the athletes in the WNBA will be free agents in 2026, a reality that has the potential to threaten, or even topple, quite a few rosters throughout the league. Earlier this season there was some mild speculation that Aces star A'ja Wilson might explore her options elsewhere, but the team's win — and Hammon's comments afterward — has underscored the fact that Las Vegas is truly her home.
Hammon told reporters following the game, "I love being their coach. I love being their coach. I love being their friend. I love being a phone call for them. I love pushing them, probably sometimes to their disliking a little bit." She added that though she has also "shared tears along with them," this season has been truly special.
The Aces struggled throughout most of the 2025 season, and suffered an especially embarrassing and brutal 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx in early August. While that loss was mortifying, it also seems to be the inspiration for what is this season's most startling and rewarding comeback: the Aces are back on top as if they never stopped living there.
Hammon is a huge part of the reason why, and her performance in the Finals offered a masterclass in basketball coaching that both WNBA coaches and their NBA counterparts should be studying for years to come. She managed to completely eliminate the formidable threat posed by the Mercury's Alyssa Thomas by keeping her guarded by taller and larger players to an almost oppressive degree, she forced Thomas to repeatedly give up the ball, and she proved that alongside Wilson, she's something of a GOAT herself.
But Hammon didn't pull off this win alone, and she would be the first to put the praise squarely where it belongs: on the shoulders of her roster. "I wanted to get [this season] right and get it right together," she explained. "And they're stuck with me. I mean, wherever they go, they're going to be stuck with me. I just believe in who they are."
That's a clear reference to any and every possible change the future could hold for the team. There is no telling what a new CBA and free agency could do to the Aces, who will be able to command just about any deal they want after their most spectacular Finasl run — but if Hammon has her way, they're all sticking together in Las Vegas for at least a few more runs.