Behind 24 points and 16 rebounds from A’ja Wilson – and somehow, without Chelsea Gray – the Las Vegas Aces beat the New York Liberty 70-69 Wednesday night to win their second straight WNBA Championship.
In a league that’s been full of parity for a while, it’s been a long time since the WNBA has seen a team win consecutive titles – more than two decades. While the Maya Moore-led Minnesota Lynx won four championships in seven seasons, they never won them consecutively.
The Aces are, in fact, the first team in 21 years to win back-to-back championships.
Before Las Vegas, the last team to win at least two straight titles were the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002. Those teams – coached by Michael Cooper and led on the court by Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie – beat a Dawn Staley-led Charlotte Sting squad, and a New York Liberty squad that featured current Aces’ head coach Becky Hammon.
Hammon’s Aces now join those Sparks and the 1997-2000 Houston Comets as the only teams to win consecutive titles in the WNBA’s history.