Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon gave an animated post-game press conference following the defending champions’ 88-84 loss to the New York Liberty in Game 2 on Tuesday. With the defeat, Las Vegas’ hopes of completing a three-peat took a significant hit, as A’ja Wilson and the Aces now trail 2-0 in the best-of-five series.
Hammon discussed the difficulty of winning three consecutive championships, praising the Liberty for their focus and execution. She was blunt in her criticism of her own players, calling out their celebrity-like behavior and distractions from the team’s primary goal.
“The whole league has been pissed off for the last 8 months, and my players are in commercials, and this, and that, and being freaking celebrities. You get distracted,” said Hammon, as quoted by the SB Nation’s senior WNBA writer Noa Dalzell on X (formerly Twitter).
“There’s a reason why it hasn’t been done since Kobe and Shaq in any sports league. Unless the Chiefs do it agian,” the Aces coach added while speaking about the challenge on completing a three-peat.
Hammon was highly critical of her players’ performance in the high-stakes Game 2 of the playoff semifinals on the road. The Aces coach called out her team for allowing easy scoring opportunities to New York in a closely contested game that was decided by fewer than five points.
“I don’t think it’s close if we keep passing it to the other team. The amount of layups we gave up was obscene,” Hammon said.
A formidable challenge awaits the Las Vegas Aces
To achieve a three-peat, the Las Vegas Aces will need to make history. Since Becky Hammon took over as head coach in 2022, the Aces have not lost a playoff series. However, after their Game 2 loss to the New York Liberty and trailing 0-2 in the semifinals, that streak is now in jeopardy.
For the Aces to keep their streak alive, they’ll need to accomplish something unprecedented in WNBA history. In 18 instances of teams falling 0-2 in the playoffs, no team has ever mounted a comeback to win the series.
Despite the daunting challenge ahead, A’ja Wilson and the Aces would be confident in their ability to pull off a comeback, relying on their experience and firepower. The silver lining for the Aces is having home court advantage for both Game 3 and Game 4.
