The Las Vegas Aces’ season and historic quest for a three-peat came to an end on Sunday with a Game 4 loss to the New York Liberty in the semifinals. After a poor start, the Aces regrouped and put up a fight, but ultimately ran out of gas in a fitting end to a disappointing summer. Late in October, general manager Natalie Williams paid the price for that failure when the team announced it was restructuring the front office and would not renew her contract.
Just as training camp started, so did the Aces’ problems. Candace Parker announced her sudden retirement, and the team had no way to replace her. Chelsea Gray, meanwhile, was not cleared to return from the foot injury she suffered in the 2023 Finals. The Aces went 6-6 over the first month, losing as many games as they did in the entire 2023 regular season.
Once Gray returned and they convinced Tiffany Hayes to come out of retirement, they started to look more like their old selves. They went 21-7 the rest of the way to earn the No. 4 seed, thanks largely to A’ja Wilson, who earned her third MVP in unanimous fashion with the greatest individual campaign the league has ever seen.
But while they were winning games down the stretch, some issues…
