On Sunday, the Las Vegas Aces finally came into their own, annihilating the LA Sparks after a thrashing at the hands of the Phoenix Mercury. With most of their players stepping up the pace and tempo, the Aces bagged a 27-point blowout against a team with veterans like Kelsey Plum and Nneka Ogwumike. But for head coach Becky Hammon, there was one player who caught her attention, prompting her to make an assessment. And mind you, it wasn’t the MVP A’ja Wilson.
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An Aces game and a power-packed Wilson performance are something that have become synonymous for the last few years. And why not? The 2025 league MVP is the cornerstone of the franchise, and everything that happens around it largely revolves around her. But on Sunday, it was different as her Aces big three counterpart and four-time WNBA All-Star Jackie Young that got most of the praise from Hammon. The Aces coach even called her the best two-way player in the league.
“I mean, the biggest thing with Jackie is I trust her work,” the Aces head coach said. “I see how she works. Not only that, over the course of my time with her, she just keeps getting better. But I have a lot of trust in her.”
“I demand a lot out of her…I think she’s the best two-way player in the league. And so that’s a heavy load. She’s pretty much like, whatever we ask her to do, she just goes out and does it at a really high, elite level. To me, she’s just coming to get into her and she’s just going to continue to go like that,” Hammon added further.
Now, the assessment isn’t at all blunt from Hammon. We saw Young’s array of strengths in the game, wherein, on the offensive end, she contributed 20 points along with 9 assists. Meanwhile, on the defensive side, she chimed in with crucial possessions on opponent shots with 4 defensive rebounds, a block, and a steal each.
And it’s not a solitary occurrence. If you roll the clock back to the playoffs last season, you’d see a similar Jackie Young performance where she averaged in the range of 20 points per game while contributing with over 4 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals each.
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As a result, the proposition isn’t surprising for the performance, but rather because the Aces also have a player in A’ja Wilson, who may have redefined the meaning of a two-way skill set. We saw just a glimpse of it in the LA Sparks game, where Wilson contributed with 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Even last season, Wilson averaged over 20 points per game while also winning the WNBA co-defensive player of the year honor.
Because of it, the true essence of a player like Jackie Young often stays in the shadows. But for head coach Hammon, she isn’t going to let Young’s consistent two-way performances go unnoticed. Notably, this wasn’t even the first time Young had received such praise from a Las Vegas Aces coach or counterpart.
Last season, when the Aces won their third WNBA title in four years, Chelsea Gray had called Young, “the best guard in the league.” This clearly reinforces Young’s growing stature in the Aces and the WNBA. Now, the debates of who is the best two-way player in the league can go on for hours and hours, but for the LA Aces, it’s just a silver lining that both of them play for them.
A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces are peaking after a dismal outing against the Phoenix Mercury
Following the Aces’ defeat against the Mercury, A’ja Wilson emphasized that the team needs to get back to its momentum immediately and set the standard of play. “The standard, I feel like, for us is doing what needs to be done on both sides of the basketball, no matter how much time is on the clock. It’s been great at all times.”
This assessment from Wilson worked like a magic trick for the Las Vegas Aces, as the next time they suited up against the LA Sparks, they ran a riot. After all, limiting a team that has Kelsey Plum and Nneka Ogwumike to just 78 points and around 29% in shooting is never easy.
As Wilson said, the Aces dominated on both ends of the court. On the offensive end, Chelsea Gray and Chennedy Carter also chimed in perfectly with A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young to clinch a blowout. Carter scored a team-high 22 points from the bench while Gray dropped 16 on the Sparks. All in all, the team sored 62% from the field, quite a stellar number.
The three-point shooting, where the Aces suffered the most against the Mercury, scoring just 21%, also improved against the Sparks. Wilson and team scored 35%, not a stellar number but quite a substantial improvement. All of it proves that the Las Vegas Aces are quickly taking notice of their shortcomings and doing everything possible to improve in that regard.
And with their holy trinity in A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young bossing the court for them, for all money, the Aces are looking quite daunting in the season ahead. Their upcoming game is on May 13 against the Connecticut Sun.
