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LAS VEGAS ― The WNBA has been in the headlines for reasons other than its first best-of-seven Finals this week after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier torched commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
But when the WNBA Finals teams showed up in Las Vegas on Thursday, the temperature at team practices and at press conferences was much cooler as the hometown Aces and Phoenix Mercury answered questions around the biggest series of the year.
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As Aces stars Chelsea Gray and A’ja Wilson sat down at the podium without smiling, a request was made by a nearby staffer to keep the questions focused on the Finals. Gray and Wilson jumped right into basketball as USA TODAY asked the first question about teammate Jackie Young.
“She’s been great, man. Best two-way guard in the league,” Gray said. “A lot of times she has the assignment of guarding one of their best perimeter players and then going down and getting buckets in the offensive end.”
Wilson, who’s usually chipper and never short on words, silently nodded in agreement as she looked down while Gray described just how important Young has been to the Aces. The quiet but strikingly loud gestures signaled that anything that happened in the playoffs no longer mattered. This was the WNBA Finals, and it was “a brand new season” and “totally different” than the regular season, as Gray told the media Thursday.
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Wilson did crack a few smiles minutes later when answering questions, but her energy never got too high. She gave measured responses to every question and the room patiently waited for her thoughts on things like battling against Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas.
“It’s always fun competing against [Alyssa Thomas],” Wilson said. “She can facilitate the game. She can pick the game apart, and I don’t get to guard that every single day … I try my best to make things very difficult. The way that she sees the game, her vision, the way that she gets her teammates open ― it’s something that she adds and brings to this game and to that position.
“I don’t see [that] every single night. It helps me elevate … to another level every single game.”
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Wilson was adamant the Aces would play their best basketball on the WNBA’s biggest stage and give fans “a good Finals matchup.” When Thomas and Mercury guard Kahleah Copper arrived later in the hour for Phoenix’s press conference, they brought the same laser-focused energy with the singular mission to win a championship.
Thomas revealed she told her team in training camp they were going to the Finals. She said she never wavered on that declaration. Copper said she texted head coach Nate Tibbetts multiple times throughout the season with a simple three-word message: “I like us.”
The Phoenix veteran explained despite having several players who hadn’t played in the WNBA before this season or not getting as many minutes as they previously were, the team was able to fight through early injuries and adversity all the way to the playoffs. It’s that kind of resolve that Copper says led the Mercury to fully lean into an underdog narrative.
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“Everyone on our roster has been underrated or not talked about or whatever. At this point, I’m a psycho, looking for something,” Copper jokingly admitted. “We know it comes with the game, but we really don’t care. Give us an edge. Like I said, don’t pick us. It’s cool … but I’m just wired a little different, you know?”
Copper, Thomas, Wilson and Gray are some of the fiercest competitors in the league and will always bring their best when the pressure is the highest. Still, it’s hard to know who will walk away with a ring in a best-of-seven series. One thing is very clear: the 2025 WNBA Finals will be the highest form of competitive basketball if the Mercury and Aces have anything to say about it.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mercury and Aces block drama, focus on WNBA Finals
