Do The Aces Have It In Them To Three-Peat?
Only once in the history of the WNBA has a team won the championship in three straight seasons.
It was the Cynthia Cooper-led Houston Comets, and they won it all not three, but four years in a row in the inaugural years of the league.
Several WNBA franchises, including most recently the Las Vegas Aces, have hoisted the Finals trophy in back-to-back seasons. In 2022 and 2023, it was all about the Aces, who have now taken over the league as one of the premier franchises.
This year, the Aces have a chance to join the Comets as the only teams to ever complete a three-peat, which, on paper, seems entirely possible. Las Vegas has the same cluster of star players, the same coach in Becky Hammon and momentum on their side from the last few seasons. They are the team to beat and the rest of the WNBA knows it.
At the mid-way point of the season, however, the Aces’ winning the WNBA championship is not a foregone conclusion. Las Vegas is 16-8 and in third place in the Western Conference. With 16 games remaining in their schedule, the Aces still have a ways to go to set themselves up for championship contention.
Which then begs the question: Can the Aces solidify themselves as a WNBA dynasty this season and win their third championship in a row?
How Have The Aces Fared Thus Far?
The Aces began their season 6-6 through the first 12 games. Since that loss to the New York Liberty on June 15, the Aces changed the tenor of their 2024 campaign, going 10-2 heading into the mid-season break.
As usual, the Aces’ superstar A’ja Wilson is having a career season and is well on her way to winning her third MVP award. Through 24 games, she has averaged 27.2 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, and has been the Aces’ anchor all season long.
Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young have also had strong seasons, contributing 18.8 and 18.5 points per game, respectively for the Aces this season. Even Las Vegas rookie, Kate Martin out of Iowa, has proven to be one of the steals of the draft as she has established herself as a strong asset off the bench.
With a third place standing in the Western Conference, the Aces are primed for a solid position in playoff seeding. Much can happen across the league with 16 games left. Luckily for the Aces, they know what it takes to win down the stretch of a season.
Olympics Are Working In The Aces’ Favor
The mid-season break can be challenging for WNBA teams, as they have to put a month-long pause on the momentum of regular gameplay.
Where the Aces hold the advantage is, despite the in-season break, four of their players are competing for Team USA on the women’s national basketball team. This means that while other teams won’t have a chance to sustain their on-court chemistry, the Aces will continue to stay season-ready throughout the Olympics.
Wilson, Plum, Young and Chelsea Gray have the chance to continue their play alongside each other, which could perhaps give them the spark they need to win a championship come October.
Such was certainly evident in Team USA’s first game win against Japan on July 29, as all the Aces players left their mark on the box score. Wilson had a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Plum and Young scored 11 and seven points apiece and Gray was dropping dimes for the United States, racking up 13 assists in the contest.
In the United States’ third and final group play game against Germany on August 4, a similar result ensued. Young led the team with 19 points, Wilson had another strong game with 13 points and Plum had six points.
Case in point, the Aces have been paramount to Team USA’s success, and this year’s Olympic Games will in turn be paramount to the Aces’ chances in the back half of the WNBA season.
Who Stands In Las Vegas’ Way?
By no means do the Aces have an easy path ahead on the road to a third-straight championship. Las Vegas may tout the upper hand when it comes to the experience piece, having qualified for three of the last four WNBA Finals, but there are plenty of horses in the race this go around.
The 2023 WNBA Finals runner-up Liberty could easily make a second-straight championship series appearance. New York stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, who are also on Team USA, have gotten their Liberty to the top of the Eastern Conference with a 21-4 record at the break.
In one matchup against the Aces, the Liberty won 90-82 in a WNBA Finals rematch, proving New York may just have the upper-hand this go-around.
The Minnesota Lynx could prove as another potential thorn in the Aces’ side down the stretch. They currently hold the number one seed in the Western Conference and were this season’s Commissioner’s Cup champions, defeating the Liberty on June 25.
Napheesa Collier, another Olympian, and the Lynx could just keep the Aces from emerging out of the Western Conference.
The Aces also have the Seattle Storm led by Jewell Loyd and Nneka Ogwumike and the Connecticut Sun led by Alyssa Thomas to worry about. Even up and coming franchises like the Indiana Fever with Caitlin Clark and the Chicago Sky with Angel Reese could make some noise come the playoffs.
Only time will tell how things will shake out in this year’s run for the 2024 WNBA championship, but the Aces may have their hands full in trying to complete the first league three-peat since 1999.
“It doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks,” Plum said in a press conference following the Aces’ win over the Washington Mystics on July 5, 11 days prior to the mid-season break. “It’s about what the locker room is doing and I have a lot of faith in our locker room. And we’re gonna be steady.”
The Aces’ first game following the break will be against the Liberty at 4:00 p.m. EST on August 17.
EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS:
Order your favorite whiskey or spirit for the big game right to your doorstep and use code STADIUMRANT10 for a 10% discount at Caskers
Use code STADIUMRANT20 for a 20% discount at Bulletproof Coffee, SwingJuice and Performix.
If you love to shotgun beers, use code STADIUMRANT10 at Wild Man Drinking Company.
MORE FROM STADIUM RANT:
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter here. Check out Stadium Rant Original shows on our Youtube channel and subscribe! Give our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok a follow for more great content!