The Las Vegas Aces may have fallen short of a WNBA championship in 2024. And they will be without NaLyssa Smith for the rest of this season.
But the way in which they re-asserted themselves as champions last year, with best player A’ja Wilson raising their ceiling through the roof as she ascended to GOAT status, tells me that this is their league until someone takes it from them—and here are the three big reasons why.
Remember how incredible A’ja Wilson was during the 2025 playoffs
Wilson averaged a postseason career-best 26.8 points per game in 2025, albeit on career-highs
of 20.6 field goal attempts and 8.5 free throw attempts per game. Her efficiency wasn’t at an all-time high, but she had an incredible impact on the Aces’ success. She added playoff career-bests of 3.3 assists, 2.1 steals and 2.5 blocks per game, plus 10 rebounds per game.
She saved her highest-scoring performances for the two winner-take-all games: Game 3 of the first round (38 points) and Game 5 of the semifinals (35 points).
She then shut down the Phoenix Mercury’s then-legitimate hopes of making the Finals a series with the game-winning mid-ranger over Alyssa Thomas’ hand in her face with 0.3 seconds remaining in Game 3, capping a night of 34 points, 14 boards, four helpers and three rejections.
The Aces would complete the sweep and raise their third championship trophy in four years.
They sat at .500 through 28 games. They were taken to the brink by the No. 7 seed Seattle Storm and No. 6 seed Indiana Fever.
But Wilson put her stamp on the Finals and, in doing so, officially became a living legend whose aura gives Vegas an intimidation factor that will not be broken easily. The rest of the field has to prove they are capable of breaking it, while the Aces are proven.
Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray remain the most elite co-stars
It’s also not only Wilson.
It’s hard to believe that Jackie Young put up back-to-back scoreless games on May 17 and 23. Since then, she has gone on to have a career year, with 18.9 points and 6.6 dimes per contest, both of which are career-best marks.
The assist mark is particularly important, as Vegas is now able to surround Wilson with not one, but two elite distributors—with Chelsea Gray, of course, being the other—that can get her the ball. It’s a mark that rivals the W’s best point guards, standing at No. 5 in the league.
Furthermore, Young is shooting 38.7 percent from beyond the arc with a career-high 2.3 makes per game and is sporting her best-ever free throw clip at 93 percent.
And we all know what Gray is capable of in the postseason.
The 2022 Finals MVP achieved a ridiculous effective field goal percentage of 71.9 over the 2022 playoffs. At age 33 in 2026, she’s putting up her best scoring average (12) and assist average (6.8) since 2023. She’s shooting 37 percent from distance, converting on 1.7 treys per outing and averaging 1.4 swipes.
Do not underestimate the resiliency of the Aces’ Big 3
Don’t get me wrong—the Aces lose a lot with Smith being out. She was good for 11.7 points per game and was leading the league in efficiency from the field at 63.8 percent.
Perhaps her absence does prevent them from being the favorite. I’m just saying that every other contender should still fear the Aces like no other, and that they have to be beaten to change that.
Wilson, Young and Gray form an all-time great Big 3. I’m convinced Wilson is already the GOAT, while the other two have the potential to get just as hot offensively and are nearly as intimidating. The trio has all-time great chemistry that has produced three championships.
Together, they failed to claim the title, or even make the Finals, in 2024. But they made a statement by finishing the 2025 regular season on a 16-game winning streak and going on to win it all.
The message was clear: The Aces are back. And this is their league. More specifically, it’s A’ja Wilson’s world and we’re all just living in it.
The Aces don’t have to be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed for the intimidation factor to remain. As a sports writer, I have to respect the team that has been there and done it most recently and most frequently.
What do you think?
Am I crazy to say the Aces are the most feared team when the Minnesota Lynx have the best record and just got Napheesa Collier back? Do you think the Lynx can overcome their bad playoff mojo and defeat a team in the Aces that has all the good mojo? What about the second-place Golden State Valkyries? Or could one of the other five playoff teams, even down to the Washington Mystics and Dallas Wings, make some real postseason noise by dethroning the queens from Vegas?
Let us know in the comments.
