The Las Vegas Aces have given themselves the chance to accomplish something done just once before in WNBA history as they now sit four wins from a third league championship in a four-season stretch.
Standing in the way are the Phoenix Mercury, who are in the title round for the first time since 2021 after a stunningly successful rebuild still in its first season.
Game 1 of the WNBA Finals between the second-seeded Aces and the fourth-seeded Mercury is set for Friday night in Las Vegas. It’s a best-of-seven series for the first time after previously being five games.
The Aces were pushed to the brink in both the opening round of the playoffs, when they edged the seventh-seeded Seattle Storm 74-73 in the deciding third game, and in the semifinals, when they beat the sixth-seeded Indiana Fever in overtime late Tuesday night in a decisive Game 5.
“People counted us out, but we’re making it to the finals,” said Las Vegas center A’Ja Wilson, whose WNBA MVP honor this year was her fourth overall. “We’re not done yet.”
In early August, the Aces looked down and out as they sat at .500 and were coming off a 111-58 loss in which the Minnesota Lynx set the WNBA record for biggest margin of victory in a road win. Las Vegas responded by winning its final 16 regular-season games to improbably clinch the No. 2 seed while finishing behind only the Lynx.
“I think that streak we went on prepared us for moments like this, how to fight through the highs and lows of the game,” Wilson said after the OT win against Indiana. “It allows us to never take our foot off the gas.”
The Aces, who won back-to-back titles in 2022-23, are back in the WNBA Finals after losing in the semifinals last season to the New York Liberty, who went on to win their first league crown by beating the Lynx in a championship series that went the distance.
The only other team to win at least three titles in a four-year stretch was the Houston Comets, who won the first four titles in WNBA history from 1997 to 2000. The Comets played their final season in 2008, folding when a new owner couldn’t be found.
Becky Hammon, the Aces’ fourth-year head coach, wasn’t ready to talk about history immediately after surviving the Fever.
“I haven’t thought about it,” Hammon said. “We’re just trying to make it through a quarter at a time. Look, we have a special group here. I’m not surprised that they’re here, because I know who they are. I know how they’re built.”
Phoenix is trying for its fourth championship overall but first since 2014. (That Mercury team set the WNBA record for consecutive regular-season wins that the Aces’ streak this season tied.)
The Mercury had a tough road to get back to the title round for the first time in four years. They topped the fifth-seeded Liberty in the first round after dropping the opener, then beat the Lynx in the semifinals by winning three in a row after going down 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
The Mercury have felt like underdogs all season, which should be no surprise after the offseason exit of two longtime franchise staples with double-digit WNBA All-Star selections: Diana Taurasi, who retired, and Brittney Griner, who signed with the Atlanta Dream as a free agent. And yet Phoenix rebuilt a talented roster quickly with the additions of DeWanna Bonner, Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas.
Kahleah Copper, one of the Mercury’s two returning players from last season’s team that exited in the first round of the playoffs, missed the first 11 games of the 2025 regular season while recovering from arthroscopic left knee surgery.
“No one has had expectations for us except ourselves,” second-year Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “The pride and the togetherness for such a new group, it’s pretty impressive.”
Bonner was a late addition to the team, joining as a free agent midway through the year. She’s no stranger to Phoenix, though, having helped the Mercury win titles in 2009 and 2014. After struggling for most of the playoffs, she had a huge fourth quarter in the Game 4 win over Minnesota on Sunday that booked a spot in the WNBA Finals.
“I’m sure that there were people wondering why I was playing D.B. at times in this series,” Tibbetts said after the game. “We went and got her for this reason. I told her after the game, the first games weren’t a big enough moment for her. She needed the fourth quarter to step up. And, I mean, she hit some big 3s. And you know, her experience, that’s why you go get a player like that.”
The Aces won three of the four meetings between the teams during the regular season. A trio of the matchups were decided by six points or less.
Media rights deal expands
NEW YORK — The WNBA has another broadcast partner after signing an 11-year media rights deal with Versant to show regular-season games and portions of the playoffs beginning next year on USA Network.
As part of the agreement, USA Network will present at least 50 games annually, including WNBA Finals games in select years.
The agreement expands the game package that was to be distributed by USA Network under the WNBA’s historic national media deals signed in 2024. That deal included partnerships with Amazon Prime, Disney and NBC and was worth some $200 million a year.
Neither side announced how much money this new deal would bring to the league.
“We’re incredibly proud to expand our multi-year partnership with the WNBA,” Matt Hong, Versant’s president of sports, said in a release. “USA Network will be a destination for WNBA viewers all season long, as we showcase the star power across the league in our marquee Wednesday night doubleheaders and build toward the intensity of the WNBA Playoffs and WNBA Finals.”
USA Network will have Wednesday night doubleheaders as well as a pregame and postgame studio show. The league also has a deal with the ION network for Friday night games.
“Partnering with VERSANT and USA Network marks another significant milestone for the WNBA’s continued growth,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a release. “As demand for women’s basketball continues to rise, partnerships like this expand the visibility and accessibility of our game. By establishing a weekly primetime destination for fans, this agreement will showcase the excitement of the WNBA to more households than ever before and further elevate the incredible athletes in this league.”
The league is currently in discussions with the players’ union to come up with a new collective bargaining agreement as the current one expires at the end of October.