Three of a kind! The Las Vegas Aces can now call themselves the WNBA’s latest dynasty.
The Aces secured the 2025 WNBA championship following a 97-86 win over the Phoenix Mercury Friday to sweep the Finals.
It is Las Vegas’ third title in four seasons and were led by no other than superstar A’ja Wilson.
The 29-year-old Wilson finished with 31 points and nine rebounds to add another ring to her collection of accolades which include being named MVP for a record-breaking fourth time this season.
It wasn’t the only history Wilson made.
She was named Finals MVP for the second time in her career, and has now become the first player in WNBA history to win MVP, FMVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
An emotional Wilson shared an embrace with her partner, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, following the win.
“For us to be able to celebrate this, it’s truly special,” Wilson told ESPN on making history. “We worked our butts off to get to this point. And now its time to have some fun. I wish I could take this credit but this is God’s work. This ain’t got nothing to do with me. This is not about X’s and O’s. This is from what’s inside.”
Just like the story in Game 3 a few days ago, it wasn’t an easy road to victory for Las Vegas.
Despite a 16-point deficit going into halftime, the Mercury have proven in these Finals that no one can ever count them out.
Phoenix clawed their way back into the game in the third quarter, cutting the Aces lead to just 12 behind forward Kahleah Copper scoring 12 of her 30 points in the period.
Late in the third, it all came to a crashing halt as Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts was ejected after being issued a double technical for arguing a foul call on guard Monique Akoa Makani.
The second-year coach appeared to be confused after the foul call before exiting the court and heading into the locker room tunnel.
The ejection grew the ire of Copper.
“I think the refs aren’t doing a good job tonight, I’m sorry,” Copper told ESPN during an in-game interview. “But we’ve just got to keep our heads.”
The Mercury kept up their resilience throughout the fourth quarter, turning it into a six-point game at one point but Las Vegas proved to be too much.
Copper would foul out of the game late in the fourth quarter just as the Aces appeared to have all but wrapped up the victory.
As the buzzer sounded and Aces players and coaches rushed onto the Mortgage Matchup Center floor to celebrate the win, guard Chelsea Gray commended her team for getting through the adversity they faced all season.
“This team has been through hell and back,” an emotional Gray told ESPN after the game before hugging head coach Becky Hammon. “What a run. Everyone stepped up. Everybody. We got the best player in the world in A’ja Wilson. … We’re champions bro.”
The start of the 2025 season was a grueling one for the Aces, starting out 14-14 before winning their last 16 regular season games.
As WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was booed loudly while addressing the Phoenix crowd, it was Aces and NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis who got to hoist the WNBA championship trophy first.
The loss is a familiar feeling for Phoenix, who have now lost in the WNBA Finals for the second time in five years.
Tibbetts didn’t mince words about his ejection and the refereeing.
“To me, that’s embarrassing. I feel bad that I was tossed. Been around this game a long time. I think it’s one of the weakest double technicals ever,” Tibbetts told reporters after the game. “I didn’t even know I got the second one, to be completely honest. I don’t understand it.”
Tibbetts added he wasn’t trying to get himself ejected.
“We’re playing for our playoff lives. Most coaches when they get tossed, you’re doing it on purpose. That was not my intention at all,” he added. “There’s been issues with the officiating all year. I have to look at it. I feel like I didn’t deserve that.”
When asked about her comments to ESPN during the game, Copper stopped short of expanding on her feelings.
“It’s cool. It’s done. We don’t even got to talk about that. It’s cool. It’s done,” Copper said.
Phoenix has won three championships in their franchise history, the last coming in 2014. The team came into Friday’s win-or-go-home game shorthanded after forward Satou Sabally sustained a concussion late in Game 3 and suffered another blow when forward Alyssa Thomas appeared to injure her shoulder before halftime.
She returned in the second half, but it was apparent the injury bothered her the rest of the way.
Thomas told reporters her shoulder was “good” and said she was proud of the way her team responded all season.
“I think this team just showed what we’re about. It’s a game I don’t think I ever been a part of like that, but super proud of how we fought, continued to play through everything. It’s been a great season. No one expected us to even be here,” Thomas said.
“Of course it didn’t go the way that we want it to end, but we have a lot to build on.”
