Former Notre Dame guard [autotag]Kayla McBride[/autotag] had her best chance to win a championship yet this season. Her Minnesota Lynx had a 30-10 regular-season record and took the New York Liberty, the only team with a better record, to a winner-take-all Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.
McBride did everything she could, scoring 21 points, the second-most on the Lynx. She also grabbed five rebounds, had a team-high five assists and a game-high four steals.
It was not enough though as the Liberty won their first WNBA championship with a 67-62 overtime victory. The Lynx remain in a three-way tie for the most WNBA titles with four.
McBride is used to just coming up short by now. She made the finals with the Las Vegas Aces in 2020, but the Seattle Storm, one of the other two teams with four championships, swept that series. She went to three national title games with the Irish in the 2010s but lost every single time.
It’s a classic example of always being the bridesmaid but never the bride. Let’s hope that McBride, who turns 33 next season, can become the bride before too long.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.
The Aces were once the championship standard, but not anymore.
It’s time for the Las Vegas Aces to return to the drawing board.
The Aces had set the standard for constructing a championship team core. But failure to adapt and a lack of agility cost the franchise a third consecutive title.
In recent years, Las Vegas capitalized on a good draft strategy (plus some luck) and filled the roster with No. 1 draft picks Kelsey Plum (2017), A’ja Wilson (2019) and Jackie Young (2019). The front office then built the remaining pieces with acquisitions like Chelsea Gray, Alysha Clark and Sydney Colson in free agency. With Becky Hammon’s coaching, the Aces created a working system of talent that bulldozed its way through the league.
Las Vegas was sound on both ends of the floor, answering anything teams threw its way. For a while, it worked rather well. The Aces got back-to-back championships out of it. But this year, even an MVP season from Wilson wasn’t enough to secure a third. It became evident that teams adjusted, and Las Vegas, with few answers, found itself out of the playoffs. “We’ve never done exit meetings. We’ve done exit partying,” Hammon recently said after falling to the Liberty. (Warning: NSFW language)
Becky Hammon was asked about potential offseason moves:
"It's not going to be the same group probably next year, it just won't. And I'm sad about that because I really liked that group […]"#AllInLV#WNBA | 🎥: @LVAcespic.twitter.com/8rltl7ehwZ
“You gotta make the moves necessary. Whatever that means,” Hammon continued. “The best product that we possibly can. It’s not [going] to be the same group probably next year. It just won’t.”
Hammon’s correct. Las Vegas can’t afford for it to look the same.
General Manager Natalie Williams will have some decisions to make. Plum, Clark, Colson and Sixth Player of the Year Tiffany Hayes will all be free agents in 2025. After a subpar year and somewhat declining production since 2022, it’s possible that Plum could have played her last game in an Aces jersey. Clark and Colson are both at the tail end of their careers, leaving it unclear if they continue to play. Additionally, Hayes came out of retirement to join the team, leaving her status for next season up in the air.
That doesn’t even consider decisions made ahead of the upcoming Golden State Expansion Draft, where Vegas could lose players or that the Aces need another big, preferably a center or a stretch four, behind Wilson to help replace some of her production when she’s not on the floor.
Vegas did draft Elizabeth Kitley in April, but Kitley, rehabbing from a torn ACL in March, missed the entire year. Having her immediately slide behind Wilson after missing basketball for 12 or more months might not be ideal. So, free agency moves and the 2025 draft could prove paramount in helping to shape Las Vegas’ bench with Kitley.
Ultimately, Las Vegas would be fooling itself if it didn’t admit out loud that the organization is no longer the league’s benchmark and then make moves that support that notion. Undoubtedly, the field has adjusted. Top talent alone isn’t enough to bring another trophy home, and if the Aces aren’t careful, it could be years before the thrill of lifting a trophy is felt again.
Spike Lee vs. Kelsey Plum might be the best matchup of this series.
Playoff basketball is always fun no matter what setting it comes in. But it always gets a little bit better when some good trash talk is involved. The trash talk is always better when it’s a bit of friendly banter between a fan and a player.
And all of that hits its peak when the trash talker on the sidelines is none other than legendary filmmaker Spike Lee.
Spike attended Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals between the Liberty and Aces. Of course, he got into it with somebody and, of course, that somebody is Kelsey Plum.
The two were going back and forth in the middle of the game.
These two were legitimately going back and forth. Whatever he was saying to Plum sure did light a bit of fire in her. She finished the game with 24 points and 4 assists, with 12 of those points coming after this exchange with Lee.
As far as what was said, Plum spoke about it after the game. She didn’t reveal too much, but it clearly struck a nerve in a good way.
Kelsey Plum on her sideline chatter with Spike Lee
“I can't say exactly what was said, but I told him that he should talk louder. But it was all well and fun and really cool that he's here, even last round was really cool. I was here. I know he's big sports fan.”@Ballislifepic.twitter.com/scorK01EFd
The New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces will meet in a WNBA playoff semifinal matchup for the ages, a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals where the Aces defeated the Liberty 3-1.
The Aces were up and down this year, earning the No. 4 seed in the 2024 playoffs, but when you are the two-time defending champs and have the unanimous league MVP in A’ja Wilson, all that matters is the playoffs.
On the other hand, the Liberty were far and away the best team during the regular season, and the team is hungry for revenge following last year’s Finals.
Limited tickets remain for what is sure to be an epic playoff series, so get yours now before the games sell out.
[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Liberty vs Aces WNBA playoff tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/MbBqxk9″]
New York Liberty vs Las Vegas Aces schedule
The Liberty and Aces begin their series on Sunday, Sept. 29. With off days between each game, and an extra day for travel, the series schedule looks like this:
Game 1: Aces @ Liberty – Sunday, Sept. 29 at 3 p.m. ET – Buy tickets
Game 2: Aces @ Liberty – Tuesday, Oct. 1, time TBA – Buy tickets
Game 3: Liberty @ Aces – Friday, Oct. 4 at 9:30 p.m. ET – Buy tickets
Game 4: Liberty @ Aces – Sunday, Oct. 6, time TBA (if necessary) – Buy tickets
Game 5: Aces @ Liberty – Tuesday Oct. 8, time TBA (if necessary) – Buy tickets
[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Liberty vs Aces WNBA playoff tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/MbBqxk9″]
New York Liberty vs Las Vegas Aces ticket prices
As of publication, here are the cheapest tickets available to each game in the Liberty vs. Aces playoff series:
Duke women’s basketball alum Chelsea Gray let out some emotion once she reached the WNBA semifinals despite a foot injury early in the year.
Former Duke women’s basketball star [autotag]Chelsea Gray[/autotag] advanced to the WNBA semifinals on Tuesday night when the Las Vegas Aces took down the Seattle Storm, and Gray made it visibly clear how important this postseason run is to her.
Gray was seen sharing emotional embraces after the 83-76 victory, emblematic of her trying season.
The three-time champion hurt her foot in last year’s WNBA Finals, an injury that kept her out of the first 12 games of this season. She didn’t see the court until mid-June and only played 26.0 minutes per game, her lowest total since her sophomore season in 2016.
The former Blue Devil averaged 14.0 points and 8.0 assists in Vegas’s two games against the Storm, playing more than 30 minutes in both contests. The emotional victory comes weeks after she became the first Duke women’s basketball alum to win multiple Olympic gold medals with Team USA earlier this summer.
Gray and the Aces now face the top-seeded New York Liberty in a best-of-five series with a spot in the Finals on the line.
Chelsea Gray moved one step closer to her fourth WNBA championship on Tuesday night when the Las Vegas Aces advanced to the second round.
Former Duke women’s basketball star [autotag]Chelsea Gray[/autotag] took a big step toward another WNBA championship on Tuesday night when the Las Vegas Aces beat the Seattle Storm 83-76.
The victory gave the Aces, who have won the previous two league titles, a 2-0 sweep in the best-of-three series to advance into the league semifinals.
Gray scored 12 points and dealt nine assists during Tuesday’s victory, a familiar stat line for the ‘Point Gawd’. She finished the first game of the series with 16 points and seven dimes.
There’s a reason they call Chelsea Gray the Point Gawd.
Chelsea Gray is doing Chelsea Gray things again, and we love to see it.
When Gray returned from injury in June, the hope was that she would return to the level of play that earned her the Point Gawd nickname from Candace Parker. But Gray didn’t quite look like herself for several games. The chatter surrounding her only grew louder when the Olympics arrived, and the veteran guard looked anything but stellar.
“With all due respect, [expletive] them,” Gray told Katie Barnes of ESPN. “My résumé and what I’ve done at this point speaks volumes, and what I bring to a team is why I was on the team.” And Gray’s right. She’s not a volume guard, per se. You don’t expect a 30 points and 10 assists outing every night. But she has three WNBA championships, a Finals MVP, six All-Star selections, one of the league’s best court visions and a killer signature fadeaway jumper that vouches for her being a top-notch floor general.
Gray exploded against the Indiana Fever on September 13 (21 points, six assists and one steal) and hasn’t looked back. In the last five games, she’s averaging 14 points, six assists and one steal, including a clutch performance against the Storm that set up an Aces-Liberty rematch.
Gray’s teammates, Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson, recognize how much she’s needed on the floor. Plum recently told reporters, “Chelsea impacts winning…ask any player in the league…I guarantee they want Chelsea Gray on their team with five minutes left, tie game…”
Wilson echoed those thoughts, saying, “Chelsea is a pass-first point guard…It seems like all of her shots are like the back-breaker ones that we need — right on time, right on target…when the game [is] on the line, put the ball in Chelsea Gray hands.”
Kelsey Plum with high praise for Chelsea Gray postgame:
“A lot of people put up numbers — and that’s no fault of them. But Chelsea impacts winning. Ask any player in the league, any high-level player, I guarantee they want Chelsea Gray on their team with five minutes left.” pic.twitter.com/P0pLW1a7Z7
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to TMW. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate your time.
Folks, it brings me great joy to tell you that the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty will, indeed, be having the WNBA Finals rematch that we’ve all been itching to see. This series will feed families, indeed.
It also pains me to tell you that the basketball gods have blessed us with this matchup too soon. Getting these two sides going against each other in a non-finals setting feels like a crime against humanity.
Imagine the Celtics and Lakers playing each other in the conference finals back in the 1980s. Exactly! You can’t. People would riot. And, right now, I feel like rioting.
The stakes are so incredibly high.
On one side, you’ve got the inarguable MVP of the WNBA in A’ja Wilson, alongside her star-studded cast of superfriends who’ve seemingly been playing their way out of slumps all season long. They broke out in a big way this series, with Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum, in particular, returning to form.
Conversely, you’ve got a Liberty team looking for revenge after their 3-1 defeat in the Finals last season. Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and their awesome supporting cast have been a well-oiled machine this season. You haven’t heard a peep from his team all year. They haven’t been concerned with awards or the spotlight. The most boastful member of their team is Ellie the Elephant. It’s clear this team only wants to get back to the Finals. They’ll have to face the team that won it all at the Liberty’s expense in front of their home fans in Brooklyn last season.
It’s poetic, honestly — a masterful stroke of irony from the basketball gods here. Sure, the Liberty and Aces will play again. But only ONE of them will play for a championship this season. I’m not sure anyone saw this coming when the season began.
This is going to be a tough series. The Liberty are, by far, the best team in the W. The Aces have the best player in the league with a championship-caliber squad. This is a best-of-five playoff series — we have no idea how this will turn out.
The only thing we can be certain of is that the basketball will be of the highest quality. And we can’t ask for much more than that.
Show him the money
Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Why does it feel like the center of the college football universe suddenly revolves around UNLV?
The future of the Mountain West Conference basically depends on whatever decision this school makes. Then, suddenly, the school’s quarterback benches himself for unknown reasons to us but clearly known reasons to the school’s administration.
He says he committed to UNLV based on “certain representations” that were made to me and were not held up after he enrolled. What were those representations? We have no idea.
Some are chiding his decision and calling him a quitter. And I get it. He’s stepping out in the middle of a season. The optics certainly aren’t great.
But, while the circumstances are a bit different, we see moves like this pretty frequently in college football. Players matriculating to the NFL forgo final games and bowl eligibility to preserve their health for a bigger payday on draft night. Coaches pack up and leave whenever the next best opportunity arises.
If this is Sluka bailing for a bigger payday elsewhere, then this move is no different, especially if UNLV broke some promises along the way.
I’m sure more will come out about this down the line. Until then, I’d hesitate to make rash determinations about Sluka or his character.
UPDATE: Well, we have a bit of context now. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports that a UNLV coach promised Sluka a minimum of $100,000 from the school’s NIL collective, of which he’s only reportedly received $3,000.
Former UNLV QB Matthew Sluka’s NIL representation, Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, told ESPN that Sluka was verbally promised a minimum of $100,000 from a UNLV assistant coach for transferring there. None of that money was paid, per Cormartie.
Leonard reportedly underwent a procedure on his knee over the summer and will be limited to strengthening the knee in training camp this year, The Athletic reports. It’s unclear exactly when he’ll play again. Lawrence Frank wouldn’t commit to Leonard being ready for the beginning of the year.
“No one has a crystal ball,” he told reporters when asked if his star player would be ready to start the season. “I think you just have to respond to how he responds.”
This is Leonard’s third knee surgery in four seasons with the Clippers. He already had one when he tore his ACL in 2021. He had another after tearing his meniscus in 2023. And we can’t discount everything he went through with the Spurs, either.
Leonard’s knees are a problem that won’t go away. He’s still an excellent player and one of the best in the NBA when he’s healthy. But he’s also never healthy when the Clippers need him to be the most.
You have to wonder how close we are to the end of the road for Leonard’s NBA career. He’s already 33 years old with multiple knee surgeries. At some point, something’s got to give.
I hope he can play ball. Leonard is one of my favorite players to watch. But, more crucially, I just wish him the best with his health. Get well soon, Kawhi.
Quick hits: Please be normal about Caitlin Clark … A triple-play for the playoffs … and more
The New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces will meet again in the WNBA playoffs, and it will be absolute cinema.
New York has likely had a bad taste in its mouth for nearly a year after watching the Aces celebrate a championship on its home floor. By all accounts, the Liberty haven’t likely forgotten that Kelsey Plum said they weren’t exactly a team, either.
On Vegas’ side, the Aces didn’t look like a championship team for much of the year. Shaky defense and inconsistent offense plagued the back-to-back champs despite an otherworldly season from A’ja Wilson. However, the Aces went 9-1 during the last 10 games of the season and swept Seattle in the opening round of the playoffs, setting up a Liberty-Aces Finals rematch.
THE REMATCH IS ON 🔥
Aces and Liberty will face off in the semifinals with a trip to the WNBA Finals on the line 🍿 pic.twitter.com/yTZzUsGoCO
A’ja Wilson dropped one of the biggest flexes of 2024, and we’re not mad.
On Sunday, Wilson was named WNBA MVP, becoming only one of four players ever to win the award three times and just the second in league history to have their selection be unanimous. That’s pretty wild stuff.
In pretty A’ja Wilson fashion, the award was less about her and more about her team. She secretly wrote her Aces teammates thank you letters for the season, sharing them shortly after earning MVP honors. But, she did save just a little bit of limelight for herself. A’ja walked the Aces tunnel ahead of a WNBA playoff matchup with the Seattle Storm holding a very shiny accessory — her MVP trophy.
Red is such a power color and it’s perfect for the occasion she literally had the greatest W season that the league has seen in its 20+ plus she dominated on both sides of the floor and increased her percentage in almost every single category….she is the bar she is the standard https://t.co/J3zzbgfIZB
Everyone is too busy talking about the rookies on mediocre teams while A'Ja Wilson is out here winning back to back titles and winning unanimous MVP for the THIRD straight season. That's something not even Jordan or LeBron ever did.
