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Dynasty.
That seven-letter word carries more weight than any other in sports. A title is the goal of each season, but true legacies are built when you can do it over and over again. It’s the difference between being an immortal and just a fleeting moment in time. You can find ways to discount one championship, but you can’t debate a dynasty’s place in history.
By completing a four-game sweep against the Phoenix Mercury with a 97-86 win on Friday, the Las Vegas Aces solidified themselves as the latest inarguable entity in American sports history with their third championship in four seasons.
Within those four seasons, the Aces went from a team that struggled to come through on the biggest stage to a team that is seemingly infallible on it. The roots can be traced back to a win-or-go-home Game 5 loss to the Mercury in the 2021 WNBA Semifinals, an upset loss that sparked a change in the coaching seat and fueled the next step in the team’s evolution.
A’ja Wilson collapsed on the court and was in tears after that heartbreaking loss to finish her season. She had to be helped back to the locker room by her teammates. pic.twitter.com/uN91YBAPgt
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) October 9, 2021
Taking The Next Step
That change saw Becky Hammon, a trailblazing NBA assistant coach, take over for former Detroit Pistons “Bad Boy” Bill Laimbeer in a shift that will go down as one of the most prudent decisions in league history.
Laimbeer was a legendary, championship-winning coach in the W himself, and the Aces were still on a rapid trajectory, but he didn’t have the energy needed to lead this emerging Las Vegas core to the places it was destined to go. He had a say in the decision to hire Hammon himself, and that decision has turned out to be one of the greatest in league history.
Above all of them, @BeckyHammon 📋 pic.twitter.com/cqKi5YhvWD
— TOGETHXR (@togethxr) October 11, 2025
Hammon’s connection with her core stars A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and even the role players like Jewell Loyd, Kierstan Bell and the rest was one of a few stabilizing forces for them when they were .500 in August and the dynasty was on life support. Her acumen was most evident in the Finals, where she clearly had a mental advantage over Nate Tibbets.
Stabilizing Forces
The most important stabilizing force was Wilson, of course, who certainly justified her fourth WNBA MVP and capped off the single greatest season the league has ever seen. Wilson joins Bill Russell as the only basketball player in history to win three MVPS and three championships in the span of four seasons.
RARE COMPANY 👑
A’ja Wilson joins Bill Russell as the only players in WNBA or NBA history to win 3 MVPs and 3 championships in a 4-season span! #WelcometotheW | WNBA Finals @YouTubeTV pic.twitter.com/d8jK1gCmIK
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 11, 2025
Wilson earned the Finals MVP nod over Young by hitting the game-winner in Game 3 and posting a team-high 31 points in the series-clinching Game 5. Young also had the series of her life, however, becoming the first guard in WNBA history to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.
In contrast to the Aces’ previous title-winning teams, the bench served as another stabilizing force for a franchise that has earned a reputation for being top-heavy at times. You can make a serious case that the entire complexion of this series changes if Dana Evans and Jewell Loyd don’t bail the Aces’ stars out with their timely Game 1 performance with a combined 38 points.
Dana Evans and Jewell Loyd were cooking in the Aces Game 1 dub 🔥 pic.twitter.com/MFOgorn1MM
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) October 4, 2025
Running It Back?
It may have ended in a sweep, but it did require an act of God for the Aces to escape with a Game 1 victory. They also went down by a handful early in Game 2 and needed a game-winner with 0.3 seconds on the clock to win Game 3 before securing the series with a decisive Game 4 win. A loss in Game 1 changes all of that, and it was the most important game of the Finals.
While CBA uncertainty and widespread free agency make predicting next season a crap shoot, the Aces’ core has given no indications that they would rather be anywhere else. Given the boost that Evans and midseason acquisition Na’Lyssa Smith have seen to their stock since arriving in Las Vegas, it’s likely they would want nothing more than to run it back next year, too.
