When fans think of the Las Vegas Aces nowadays, they think of A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, and Becky Hammon. For some newer W fans, that is the only iteration of the Aces they know. They deserve all the attention they can get. The players are big-time stars, and Hammon coached that core three, alongside some other great players, to three championships in four years. However, Hammon wasn’t the first coach to lead A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young to the WNBA Finals.
When the Aces drafted Wilson and Young in 2018 and 2019, respectively, Bill Laimbeer was the Aces’ head coach. Laimbeer had won three titles with the Detroit Shock in the early 2000s, and it only took him three seasons to get the Aces to a finals appearance in 2020. While Hammon finished the task and led the Aces to a championship, Laimbeer’s impact on the team can still be felt. He even laid the foundation for the Aces’ 2025 title.
When A’ja Wilson appeared on the Do Tell Relationship Podcast with Nina Westbrook, she credited Laimbeer with setting her up to become a great leader for the Aces. “Then I went through Bill Laimbeer, and he really kind of taught me that I needed to be a leader out [of] the gate,” Wilson said when recounting how each of her coaches from college to the W impacted her. “It was like, ‘No, you’re leading this team. Go. I will be here, but I’m not holding your hand.’”
Wilson needed that experience to lead the charge in the 2025 season.
A’ja Wilson’s leadership played a big role during the Aces’ championship run
The 2025 championship was unlike the other two titles the Aces won. For much of the regular season, the team struggled. They had to incorporate Jewell Loyd, Dana Evans, and NaLyssa Smith into their system and to navigate losing Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks. For a long time, it seemed that the Aces’ era of dominance was due for a break. A 53-point loss to the Lynx was the absolute low point of the season.
Nevertheless, the Aces turned things around, racked up sixteen consecutive wins to close out the regular season, and beat the Storm, Fever, and Mercury to win another title. Wilson was a big part of that success, winning her fourth MVP award and a co-DPOY award. Her impact went well beyond the numbers on the stat sheet, though.
Aces players, especially young ones, regularly credit Wilson and her work ethic with making them want to work as hard as possible. After all, when the best player on the team—the best player in the world, really—is doing all the little things, no one else has any reason not to do them too. Wilson also took it upon herself to be vocal about her team’s struggles and initiate the famous turnaround that led to the Aces’ championship.
After the loss to the Lynx, she sent a text to her teammates that said, “If you weren’t embarrassed from yesterday, then don’t come into this gym. You’re not needed or wanted here. We need the mindset to shift, because that was embarrassing.”
A switch quickly flipped for the Aces, and players regularly cited Wilson’s text as the reason. Learning how to be a leader early on in her career, prepared Wilson for this monumental season and the responsibility of helping her team recover from hitting the lowest point of the season.