It’s not very often you get a team like the Las Vegas Aces. A team that not so long ago was a mid-tier competitor, unable to finish the season with a title. This all changed in 2022 when Becky Hammon took over, and they haven’t been the same since. Below, we’re counting down five times the Las Vegas Aces made history.
#5 Best season record in WNBA history
The Las Vegas Aces are the kind of team that loves to prove people wrong. One example is in 2023 when the WNBA announced a 40-game schedule just months after the Aces won their first title.
Many fans thought it was a way to stop the Ace’s dominance and level the playing field in the league. Unfortunately for the WNBA, Las Vegas managed a 34-6 record that year to finish the regular season and ran roughshod through the playoffs with a 9-1 record and another WNBA title. They achieved the best season record in league history.
#4 Becky Hammon is the first female head coach to win a championship
Becky Hammon is the coach driving the Las Vegas Aces and helped them win two straight titles from 2022 to 2023. She’s the first woman to win a WNBA title as a coach, and she did it in her first year at the job. No other WNBA team seems to be able to outcoach her consistently.
The reason for her success can probably be traced to quite a few things, but her time with Greg Popovich stands out the most. She served as an assistant head coach of the San Antonio Spurs under Popovich and learned a lot.
In the end, Hammon knows how to get the most out of players and can put the right person on the court at the right moment.
#3 First WNBA team in over a decade to win back-to-back titles
\Winning a championship is one thing. Winning two in a row is something else entirely. The Las Vegas Aces became champions in 2022 and 2023 and took down some of the toughest teams in the league to do so.
The path to their 2022 title started with a 2-0 series victory over the Phoenix Mercury before moving on to the Seattle Storm. Las Vegas won the series 3-1 and knocked off their old enemy, the team that beat them in the 2020 Finals. Finally, they took on the Connecticut Suns and almost swept the whole thing.
Fast-forward to the 2023 playoffs, and they did it again. This time, the Aces went 9-1 in the postseason while marching to the playoffs. Everything capped off with a WNBA Finals series against New York Liberty, which Las Vegas finally won 3-1.
The Aces are now the first WNBA team in almost 20 years to win back-to-back championships, creating a dynasty. They’re seeking their third straight title in 2024.
More: 5 ways the Las Vegas Super Bowl made history
#2 First WNBA team to sell out-of-season tickets
WNBA teams never get the respect they deserve, but that’s changing. The Las Vegas Aces announced in March that they sold out of season tickets for 2024, making them the first team in WNBA history to sell all of its season tickets.
Not only does the announcement confirm that there is interest in women’s sports, but it also shows just how different this team is. The Aces have jumped to superstar status. They went from the team that the Seattle Storm swept in the 2020 WNBA Finals to becoming back-to-back champions.
#1 First Las Vegas pro sports team to win a championship
The Las Vegas Aces are the first team to bring a championship to Sin City, beating the Las Vegas Knights and Las Vegas Raiders. They accomplished this in 2022 after a 3-1 series against the Suns. Las Vegas also ran roughshod through the playoffs that year with an 8-2 record, which shows how difficult they were to stop.
There are two big reasons behind their first title win in 2022. First, they had one of the best teams in the WNBA, which included A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Dearica Hamby.
The second reason is that Becky Hammon is the head coach. Someone who learned under Greg Popovich for years with the San Antonio Spurs and brought that experience to the Aces.
Next: 5 players that might want out of Las Vegas
