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Congratulations to the 2025 WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces.
An accomplishment that once seemed improbable became inevitable. In the first-ever best-of-seven WNBA Finals, the Aces swept the Phoenix Mercury, winning Game 4 97-86 to capture the franchise’s third title in four seasons.
Although the Mercury would cut the Aces’ advantage to six points early in the fourth quarter, Vegas otherwise controlled the closeout contest, claiming a lead that swelled to as many as 20 points en route to their coronation.
The Aces, of course, were lead by now two-time Finals MVP A’ja Wilson, who had 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals in the clincher. Across the four games, she averaged 28.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal. The co-stars of the Aces’ three-time champion core—Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray—contributed matching 18-point performances, with Young adding eight assists and seven rebounds while Gray had four of each. Jewell Loyd made four more 3s in Game 4, finishing with 12 points to complete one of the most productive Finals as a reserve in league history as she shot nearly 45 percent from behind the arc.
Down Satou Sabally, who missed Game 4 with a concussion, the Mercury refused to concede, climbing back from their double-digit deficit to make sure the Aces had to earn their achievement in the final frame. Both of Phoenix’s remaining stars came to play, with Alyssa Thomas tallying her third-career Finals triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists as Kahleah Copper scored a postseason career-high 30 points, with 21 coming in the second half. However, Phoenix was not immune from the frustration of their insurmountable situation, as head coach Nate Tibbetts was ejected late in the third quarter, assessed two quick technicals for profanely protesting a foul call.
After the game, Copper refused to address the officiating, instead insisting, “One thing about us is we are going to hold ourselves accountable.” She further reflected on Phoenix’s season, seeing the team’s fight to the finish as exemplifying the their season:
It’s another form of adversity in the year. Let’s just add onto it. Let’s just play harder. That’s just what we’re about. When you talk about Mercury basketball, when you talk about the Phoenix Mercury period, we are never going to quit. We are going to get after it. We can handle whatever you throw at us.
However, it’s the victors that will write the story. And what a story it was.
The Aces had every season imaginable in one on their way to the 2025 championship.
The plot points included: A deteriorated dynasty, barely fending off a disappointing death. A .500(ish) team, fighting for a mere playoff opportunity. A risky midseason trade, where a former No. 2 pick revived her career as a perfect role player. A star whose formerly golden game had faded, only to be rediscovered as a sharpshooting reserve. A league-record home loss, a nadir that appeared to confirm the former champion’s fall off. A 16-game regular-season winning streak, a stretch of absolute dominance that followed their near-death. An aging all-time great, who, once again, beat the washed allegations in the moments that mattered most. A playoff berth as the No. 2 seed, looming as a title threat.
The drama only continued in the playoffs: A victorious rout in the opening game of the first round, only for the series to be extended to a decisive Game 3 that required a game-winning putback. A semifinal matchup against an injury-ravaged upstart that required five games, appearing to re-expose vulnerabilities. An escape in Game 1 of the Finals behind a historic off-the-bench 3-point shooting performance. A record-breaking third quarter heater that paced a Game 2 blowout, with the quiet, consistent and clutch co-star scoring the most points in a single-quarter in Finals history. A Game 3 game-winner by THE all-time great. A Game 4 coronation, a clean 4-0 sweep that sealed a dynasty-restoring third title.
And at the heart of all of that was Wilson.
A’ja could have assessed her team at midseason and decided that they did not have it. She could have simply consigned herself to getting hers, accepting her teammates’ mediocrity as she compiled impressive individual statistics. Instead, she proved that she might be not just be the greatest player, but the greatest leader, in WNBA history. Wilson’s belief in the Aces’ potential never wavered, and she breathed that belief into her teammates, inspiring a shared spirit that would spark one of the most impressive single-season stories in all of sports history.
This epic was authored by A’ja.
And at the end of it, she now sits, in the words of head coach Becky Hammon, “alone on Everest.” In the celebratory postgame press conference, Hammon asserted of Wilson, “You have your Mount Rushmore, she’s alone on Everest. There’s no one around.”
Wilson closes 2025 as the first and only player in WNBA history to win MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Finals MVP and the championship in a single season.
And although she was speaking about her team and not herself, A’ja, amidst her celebration, said it best, “Good things happen to the right people.”
