Aces Win 3rd WNBA Championship

Final thoughts at the conclusion of the 2025 WNBA season.

The Las Vegas Aces are the 2025 WNBA Champions. Coach Becky Hammon, A’ja Wilson, and company have now won the title in three of the last four years (2022, 2023, and 2025). I already felt like the Aces became a dynasty after they were the first WNBA team to win back-to-back championships since the 2001-2002 Los Angeles Sparks, but if there were any doubts about that before, there is no arguing the fact now.

“Sometimes you just won’t be better than the absolute best.”

Skylar Diggins, Nneka Ogwumike, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally, and Alyssa Thomas. All of them are incredible players. Generational talents, even. But they aren’t A’ja Wilson. A’ja is in a league of her own, and she’s the primary reason why the Las Vegas Aces have now won three WNBA Championships since 2022.

The NFL had to deal with Tom Brady for decades. The NBA had Michael Jordan in the ‘90s. Golf had Tiger Woods. The WNBA has A’ja Wilson. Until someone better comes along, A’ja and the Las Vegas Aces are going to be in title contention every single year.

Wilson is the only four-time WNBA MVP in league history. She’s also the only player to ever win MVP, Finals MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.

She took her game to another level again in the 2025 playoffs. Wilson averaged 26.8 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 3.3 APG, 2.5 BPG, and 2.1 SPG. Just an absolute force! A’ja scored 31 points or more in 5 of the 12 playoff games that Las Vegas played. That included a 38-point masterpiece against Seattle in the decisive Game 3 of the first round. She tallied 21 points or more in 10 of the 12 playoff games.

Between the regular season and the playoffs, A’ja scored 30 points or more in 18 games this season. Unreal.

The WNBA talent pool is deeper than ever, but the rest of the field is going to have to find ways to slow down A’ja Wilson, or she’s just going to continue to dominate the league for the next several years.

Always the Bridesmaid, Never the…

Alyssa Thomas had the opportunity to help the Mercury win Game 1 in the final minute, but she missed both of her free throw attempts. Phoenix went on to lose the game 89-86. The Mercury had to win Game 1 if they had any chance at winning the series, especially with the Aces coming off a grueling 5-game series against the Indiana Fever.

They didn’t get it done, and they rarely threatened Las Vegas after that. After that game, some said Alyssa Thomas shouldn’t be judged by those missed free throws. But how can you not?

Two things can be true at the same time. Alyssa Thomas is one of the best players in the WNBA. There is a reason why she’s been considered an MVP candidate over the past few years. Thomas has been named to the All-WNBA First Team in each of the last three seasons. AT has more triple-doubles in WNBA history with 25, including six in the playoffs, than any other player in the league (former or current).

She does it all. Thomas is 6’2” and built like a brick wall, but she often runs the point, bringing the ball up as her team’s Power Forward (Point Forward). She is good at everything, and that allows her to attack the rim like a guard, muscle her way through like a post, and pass the ball like a point guard.

Unfortunately for Thomas, she has never been able to reach the pinnacle of the sport. She is now 0-3 in WNBA Finals appearances. AT is basically the opposite of Sue Bird or even Jewell Loyd when it comes to the league’s Championship series.

Alyssa’s most dedicated fans claim it’s “disrespect” that Thomas has never won the Most Valuable Player award. Sadly, I think her record in the WNBA Finals is part of the explanation as to why she never has, despite her incredible play and varied skillset.

Thomas is the best player on her team, and she’s never been good enough to win the WNBA Championship. She wasn’t able to beat Elena Delle Donne and Emma Meesseman in 2019. She hasn’t been able to beat A’ja Wilson in either 2022 or 2025. She hasn’t done what other greats like Delle Donne, Breanna Stewart, and A’ja Wilson have.

Her unorthodox offense has made it difficult for her to hit the big shots and win the biggest games in the clutch moments. As I wrote above, sometimes you won’t be better than the absolute best, and Alyssa Thomas has never been the absolute best during her time in the WNBA.

A Total Dud

This was the first WNBA Finals to feature a 7-game series. It was supposed to be a historical moment. Especially after the epic Game 5 clash between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx the year before.

Unfortunately, the Phoenix Mercury weren’t up for the task. Maybe if Breanna Stewart hadn’t been injured in the opening round. Maybe if Napheesa Collier wasn’t injured during Game 3 of the WNBA’s semifinals, the Minnesota Lynx would have given the Las Vegas Aces a true test. Maybe if the Mercury could have “stolen” Game 1, a game in which they led throughout. Or if their fierce rally in Game 3 didn’t fall short. Or if Satou Sabally didn’t suffer a concussion in that game. There are a lot of “what ifs” that took place during the 2025 WNBA playoffs. Add the Storm not boxing out for a rebound to the list.

If some things had gone differently, maybe WNBA fans would have been treated to a far more entertaining 7-game series. Instead, the Las Vegas Aces won the championship in a four-game sweep with only a tiny bit of resistance from their opponents.

Oh well, there’s always next season. Assuming there is a next season.

Stewie and Jewell

I believe it was during the 2022 Exit Interviews, I asked Jewell if she had talked with Stewie about staying together with the potential to be the greatest duo in WNBA history. She was non-committal in her answer. If I recall correctly, I think she alluded to everyone having to do what’s best for them.

Maybe Jewell already knew Stewie was likely to leave. Ultimately, Loyd was interested in staying in Seattle, but Stewart wanted to move east to New York. She was immediately rewarded as Stewie won the WNBA MVP award in 2023 and helped lead the Liberty to the WNBA Finals. They fell short that season, but returned to the Finals the following year and won the championship in 2024.

Meanwhile, Loyd found individual success in 2023, breaking Diana Taurasi’s single-season scoring record. But that did not lead to team success. The Storm struggled mightily and finished with an 11-29 record. In 2024, the Storm added veteran All-Stars Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins. While they had a lot of success in the regular season, finishing 25-15, Seattle was swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Las Vegas Aces. Inner turmoil during the season between Loyd, other players, and the coaching staff resulted in Jewell requesting a trade before the 2025 season.

Seattle, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles participated in a three-team trade that sent Loyd to the Aces, Kelsey Plum to the Sparks, and the #2 overall pick to Seattle. The Storm used that on budding 19-year-old star Dominique Malonga. Malonga showed much promise, becoming the youngest player to have a 20+ points/10+ rebounds game in WNBA history. She was named to the WNBA’s All-Rookie team. Kelsey Plum had one of the best seasons of her career, averaging 19.5 PPG and a career-high 5.7 APG. She was named to the All-Star team. Despite missing the playoffs, Plum was happy to be her team’s first option, something she hasn’t experienced since playing for the University of Washington. She was also happy to be back with one of her best friends, Dearica Hamby. And while Jewell struggled a lot to find her footing during the regular season, she still hit several clutch shots and raised her level of play in the playoffs, especially during the WNBA Finals. Las Vegas doesn’t win Game 1 without Loyd’s strong performance off the bench.

Jewell becomes the first player in WNBA history to have a perfect 10-0 record in the WNBA Finals. She has now won her 3rd championship. She got everything she could have ever wanted with her trade request. But this ultimately looks like a deal that benefited all three teams that were involved in the trade.

Going back to after the 2022 season, I felt the Storm could still win more championships even after Sue Bird’s retirement if Stewie and Jewell had just stuck together. It’s difficult to say for certain because the Aces would have still been in the way. The trio of A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray has been tough to beat. Minnesota has put together an excellent team over the past couple of seasons, and they might have knocked Seattle out. And it’s still possible, a New York Liberty superteam without Stewie, but one that still has Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, Betnijah Laney, and another star player could have been too much for the Storm in this alternate reality. But the fact that both Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd have won WNBA Championships since leaving Seattle leads me to believe the Storm could have won more.

Jackie Young

7 years into her WNBA career, Jackie Young has gone from a quiet, underperforming #1 overall pick to arguably the league’s best guard. Young has been a great player for several seasons now, and she’s had a hand in all three of the Aces’ WNBA Championships, but none more so than this year. J-Yo finished with the best playoff performance of her career, averaging 20.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 5.5 APG, and 1.4 SPG.

Young scored 32 points in the Aces’ 91-78 Game 2 Finals victory over the Mercury. She also scored 32 points in the decisive winner-take-all Game 5 against the Indiana Fever in the semi-finals. Jackie tallied two more games of 25 points, one against Seattle and another against Indiana. Of course, she had the game-winning basket against the Storm that saved Las Vegas from being eliminated in the first round just a few weeks ago.

She’s been everything and more the Aces could have hoped for when they selected her #1 overall in 2019. After watching her growth and development over the years, I can safely say that Jackie Young would be my top choice for the Storm in Free Agency. Pairing Young with Dominique Malonga would set Seattle up for the next decade.

Of course, who knows if we’ll even have a 2026 WNBA season at this point. The WNBAPA and the owners are still at an impasse regarding the next CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement).

Even if they do come to an agreement, I have a hard time seeing that happen. For one, Las Vegas could easily place the Core franchise tag on her (if that is still a thing in the next CBA). But even if they don’t, I’m not sure I see Young leaving Las Vegas anytime soon. Unlike Breanna Stewart, who wanted to move back east and to a larger media market, Young doesn’t really seem to have those desires. Nor does she come across as a person who wants to branch out of A’ja Wilson’s shadow, something that Kelsey Plum was ready for.

Jackie was never the big star at Notre Dame. It was her teammate Arike Ogunbowale who got all the attention. She’s never been the face of the Aces’ franchise because that’s always been A’ja Wilson. With her quiet demeanor, Young appears more than satisfied to play the Robin to Wilson’s Batman. Unlike Stewie and Jewell, it feels like Jackie and A’ja will stay together. And continue to win championships together.

Notes:
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Photo Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography

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