The Las Vegas Aces are the favorites to win the WNBA title again, even with NaLyssa Smith out for the season, and honestly, can anyone even argue it after what A’ja Wilson did last year? This team just re-asserted themselves as champions, largely thanks to Wilson ascending to full-blown GOAT status. Until someone steps up and rips it away, this is Vegas’s league, plain and simple. We all saw it last year, didn’t we?
A’ja Wilson Went Full Legend Mode in 2025
Remember Wilson in the 2025 playoffs? Absolutely ridiculous. She dropped a postseason career-best 26.8 points per game, yeah, on high attempts, but the impact was undeniable. She was everywhere, adding career-bests with 3.3 assists, 2.1 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game, plus a solid 10 rebounds. This woman came alive in winner-take-all games, too, hitting 38 points in Game 3 of the first round and 35 in Game 5 of the semifinals. Then, to cap it all off, she completely shut down the Phoenix Mercury’s Finals hopes with a game-winning mid-ranger over Alyssa Thomas’s hand with 0.3 seconds left in Game 3. That night? A cool 34 points, 14 boards, four helpers, and three rejections. The Aces swept them and snagged their third championship trophy in four years. Think about that: they were .500 through 28 games, and even our No. 7 seed Seattle Storm and the No. 6 seed Indiana Fever pushed them to the brink. But Wilson put her stamp on the Finals and became a living legend. That aura gives Vegas an intimidation factor that will not be broken easily. They are proven; the rest of the league has to prove they can break it.
It’s Not Just Wilson, These Co-Stars Are Balling Out
Here’s the kicker, though: it is not just Wilson carrying the load. Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray are elite co-stars. It’s wild to think Young had back-to-back scoreless games on May 17 and 23. Since then? She’s on a career year, averaging 18.9 points and a career-best 6.6 dimes per contest. That assist mark is huge, placing her at No. 5 in the league and letting the Aces surround Wilson with two elite distributors, Gray being the other. They are the first duo in WNBA history to each score 25+ in the same game ten times! Young is also shooting 38.7 percent from beyond the arc with a career-high 2.3 makes per game, and her free throw clip is her best-ever at 93 percent. And we all know what Gray is capable of in the postseason. The 2022 Finals MVP achieved a ridiculous effective field goal percentage of 71.9 over the 2022 playoffs. At 33 in 2026, she still runs the show.
The WNBA is running through Vegas right now, and teams like our Storm have their work cut out for them to climb that mountain. Our Storm just dropped one to the Sparks, 90-74. It is a tough league, and the Aces are showing everyone what it takes to stay at the top.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Swish Appeal.
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