Las Vegas Aces facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Las Vegas Aces
Conference	Western
Leagues	WNBA
Founded	1997
History	Utah Starzz 1997–2002 San Antonio Silver Stars 2003–2013 San Antonio Stars 2014–2017 Las Vegas Aces 2018–present
Arena	Michelob Ultra Arena
Location	Paradise, Nevada
Team colors	Black, silver, white
Main sponsor	Ally Financial
President	Nikki Fargas
General manager	Natalie Williams
Head coach	Becky Hammon
Assistant(s)	Natalie Nakase Tyler Marsh Charlene Thomas-Swinson
Ownership	Mark Davis (majority) Tom Brady (minority)
Championships	2 (2022, 2023)
Conference titles	1 (2008)
Commissioner's Cup titles	1 (2022)
Retired numbers	1 (25)

The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team plays their home games at Michelob Ultra Arena in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, and is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada. The Aces won the 2022 WNBA Commissioner's Cup and WNBA Championship. The Aces also won the 2023 WNBA Championship, becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships since 2001-2002, when the Los Angeles Sparks completed that feat.

The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the league's inaugural 1997 season. It then moved to San Antonio, Texas before the 2003 season and became the San Antonio Silver Stars, later shortened to the San Antonio Stars in 2014. The team relocated to Las Vegas before the 2018 season. The Aces, who are owned by Mark Davis, the current owner of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders, and Tom Brady, are one of three WNBA franchises who compete in a market that lacks a current NBA team; the other two teams are the Connecticut Sun and the Seattle Storm.

As the Stars, the team qualified for the WNBA Playoffs in seven of their fifteen years in San Antonio. The franchise has been home to many high-quality players such as all-star point guard Becky Hammon, solid power-forward Sophia Young, former first-overall draft pick Ann Wauters, seven-foot-two-inch center Margo Dydek, two-time Sixth Woman of the Year Dearica Hamby, and two-time league MVP A'ja Wilson. The franchise has gone to the WNBA Finals four times: first in 2008, losing to Detroit, in 2020 losing to Seattle, and in 2022 winning against Connecticut, and in 2023 winning against New York.

Franchise history

The Utah Starzz years (1997–2002)

One of the eight original WNBA teams, the Utah Starzz (partially named after the old ABA team, the Utah Stars, but with the zz at the end like the Utah Jazz) never met the same success as their (former) counterpart in the NBA, the Utah Jazz. They held the distinction of having the worst record in the WNBA in 1997 and were the first team to select in the 1998 WNBA draft. With their selection, they picked 7 ft. 2 in. center Margo Dydek, who easily became the tallest player in WNBA history. Unfortunately, the pickup of Dydek did little to help their cause and they again finished near the bottom of the league in the 1998 & 1999 seasons. The Starzz finally posted a winning record in 2000, but did not make the playoffs. In 2001, the Utah Starzz made it to the playoffs for the first time, but they were quickly swept in the first round by the Sacramento Monarchs. In 2002, the Starzz made it to the playoffs again, and this time beat the Houston Comets in the Western Conference Semifinals 2 games to 1. Their playoff run ended in the Western Finals, however, as they were swept aside by the eventual champs, the Los Angeles Sparks.

The San Antonio Silver Stars/Stars years (2002–2017)

When the NBA divested itself of all of its WNBA franchises at the end of the 2002 season, the Utah Jazz ownership did not wish to retain ownership of the Starzz. The Starzz then looked for local Utah potential buyers, but none were found, leaving the franchise with the choices of either being sold to out-of-town investor(s) or folding. The Starzz avoided folding when the franchise was sold to Peter Holt (the owner of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs) and relocated to San Antonio. The team's name was changed to the San Antonio Silver Stars and would change its team colors to the silver and black motif used by the Spurs.

For the first four seasons (2003–2006) after moving to San Antonio, the franchise was unable to change its old losing trend and did not make the playoffs. The 2007 season brought a lot of change for the Silver Stars. They acquired stars Becky Hammon, Ruth Riley, and Sandora Irvin in trades, selected Helen Darling in Charlotte Sting's dispersal draft, drafted Camille Little in the second round, signed Erin Buescher during the off-season, and retained key players, such as Marie Ferdinand-Harris, Vickie Johnson, Shanna Crossley, Kendra Wecker, and Sophia Young. The new-look Silver Stars became an instant contender in the Western Conference. On August 4, 2007, the Silver Stars clinched their first playoff berth since the franchise relocated to San Antonio in 2003. In the first round, the Silver Stars were matched up against the Sacramento Monarchs. After losing game 1 in Sacramento, the Silver Stars would win games 2 and 3 to advance to the Western Finals. The Silver Stars faced off against a strong Phoenix Mercury team, which had the number one seed in the Western Conference. On September 1, 2007, the Silver Stars' season came to an end after the Stars lost Game 2 98–92 in Phoenix.

Heading into 2008, the Silver Stars were regarded as a premiere contender and did not disappoint. After an average start, the Stars seized control of the Western Conference and rode to the best record in the West, and the first seed in the playoffs. In the WNBA Finals, the Silver Stars faced the Detroit Shock, who were making their third WNBA Finals appearance in a row. In Game 1 at home, the Silver Stars fell behind early, but would tie the game at 69 with 2:15 left in the 4th quarter. But from there the Shock took control once again and won the game 77–69. The 2010 season was not much different for the Stars. They finished with an unimpressive 14–20 record but sneaked into the third seed of the playoffs in a below-average Western Conference. The Silver Stars were swept in the first round of the playoffs by Phoenix and it was clear that some changes were needed. In the 2012 playoffs, the Silver Stars lost in the first round to the Los Angeles Sparks. The team would miss the playoffs in 2013. In the 2014 playoffs, the Stars would lose in the first round to the Minnesota Lynx.

Relocation to Las Vegas

The club's first Las Vegas-era logo, used from 2017 to 2024.

After Spurs Sports & Entertainment decided to put the team up for sale, following the 2017 season, it became apparent the team would be on the move. The NBA and WNBA approved the sale of the Stars to MGM Resorts on October 17, 2017, with the intention of relocating the team to Las Vegas and playing at the Michelob Ultra Arena starting in the 2018 season. On December 11, 2017, at a press conference inside the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the team name was officially announced as the Las Vegas Aces. They received the first pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft, and picked South Carolina's A'ja Wilson.

On January 14, 2021, Mark Davis, owner of the Las Vegas Raiders agreed to purchase the team from MGM. The purchase was approved by the league on February 12, 2021. Shortly after the purchase of the team by Davis, ground was broken on a training facility for the Aces in Henderson next to the Raiders facility. The 50,000 square foot facility, the first complex built solely for the use of a WNBA team houses the Aces’ practice facility, offices, training room, weight room, hydrotherapy space, physical therapy area, locker rooms, a lecture hall, player and alumni lounges, and an on-site day care center and was completed in April 2023. In May 2021, Davis hired former LSU Lady Tigers basketball head coach Nikki Fargas as team president. On December 31, 2021, Becky Hammon was hired as head coach in a deal that made her the highest paid coach in the WNBA. During the 2022 season, the Aces defeated the Phoenix Mercury in round 1 and the Seattle Storm in the semifinals before deafeating the Connecticut Sun in the 2022 WNBA Finals in 4 games to win the franchise's first championship and the first professional sports championship for Las Vegas.

On March 23, 2023, it was announced that former NFL quarterback Tom Brady had purchased a minority stake in the team. The Aces would go on to defend their WNBA Championship against the New York Liberty.

On March 6, 2024, the Aces debuted new uniforms and a new silver and black color scheme matching that of Davis's other team the Raiders. A day later the team announced a season ticket sell out for the 2024 season, the first time in league history a team has sold out their season tickets.

Season-by-season records

Players

Current roster

Las Vegas Aces roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs C 8 Cambage, Liz 6' 8" (2.03m) 216 lb (98kg) 08-18-1991 Australia 4 G 12 Gray, Chelsea 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 10-08-1992 Duke 6 F 5 Hamby, Dearica 6' 3" (1.91m) 189 lb (86kg) 11-06-1993 Wake Forest 6 G/F 35 McCoughtry, Angel  6' 1" (1.85m) 173 lb (78kg) 09-10-1986 Louisville 11 C 19 Ji-su, Park 6' 5" (1.96m) 206 lb (93kg) 12-06-1998 South Korea 2 G 10 Plum, Kelsey 5' 8" (1.73m) 145 lb (66kg) 08-24-1994 Washington 3 G 24 Slocum, Destiny 5' 6" (1.68m) 157 lb (71kg) 09-09-1997 Arkansas R C 41 Stokes, Kiah 6' 3" (1.91m) 191 lb (87kg) 03-30-1993 Connecticut 5 G 2 Williams, Riquna 5' 6" (1.68m) 165 lb (75kg) 05-28-1990 Miami (FL) 8 F 22 Wilson, A'ja 6' 4" (1.93m) 195 lb (88kg) 08-08-1996 South Carolina 3 G 0 Young, Jackie 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) 09-16-1997 Notre Dame 2	Head coach Bill Laimbeer (Notre Dame) Assistant coaches Tanisha Wright (Penn State) Vanessa Nygaard (Stanford) Sugar Rodgers (Georgetown) Athletic trainer Michelle Anumba Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured   WNBA roster page
East ATL CHI CON IND NY WAS West DAL LV LA MIN PHO SEA

Former players

• Danielle Adams (2011–2015)
• Chantelle Anderson (2005–2007)
• Jayne Appel (2010–2016)
• Jennifer Azzi (2000–2003)
• Elena Baranova (1997–1999)
• Emma Cannon
• Helen Darling (2007–2010)
• Margo Dydek (1998–2004)
• Shyra Ely (2005–2006)
• Liz Cambage (2019-2021)
• Marie Ferdinand-Harris (2001–2007)
• Adrienne Goodson (1999–2004)
• Dearica Hamby (2015–2022), now a member of the Los Angeles Sparks
• Becky Hammon (2007–2014), now head coach of the Las Vegas Aces
• Dena Head (1997–1998)
• Chamique Holdsclaw (2010)
• Shannon "Pee Wee" Johnson (2004–2006)
• Shenise Johnson (2012–2014)
• Vickie Johnson (2006–2009), now an assistant coach for the Atlanta Dream
• Kayla McBride (2014–2020), now a member of the Minnesota Lynx
• DeLisha Milton-Jones (2013), now the head coach for the Old Dominion University women's basketball team
• Wendy Palmer-Daniel (1997–1999, 2005)
• Jia Perkins (2011–2015)
• Erin Buescher Perperoglou (2007–2009)
• Theresa Plaisance (2022)
• Semeka Randall (2002–2004)
• Ruth Riley (2007–2011)
• Danielle Robinson (2011–2016, 2020), now a member of the Indiana Fever
• Sugar Rodgers (2019–2020), now an assistant coach for William & Mary Tribe women's basketball
• Olympia Scott (1998–1999)
• Michelle Snow (2010)
• Kate Starbird (2000–2002)
• LaToya Thomas (2004–2006)
• Ann Wauters (2008–2009)
• Natalie Williams (1999–2002)
• Sophia Young (2006–2015)
• Shanna Zolman (2006–2007, 2009)
• Tausha Mills (2003)

Retired numbers

Coaches and staff

Owners

• Larry H. Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz (1997–2002)
• Peter Holt, owner of the San Antonio Spurs (2003–2017)
• MGM Resorts International (2017–2021)
• Mark Davis (2021–2023)
• Mark Davis and Tom Brady (2023–present)

Head coaches

General managers

• Jay Francis (1997–2004)
• Dan Hughes (2005–2015)
• Ruth Riley (2016–2017)
• Bill Laimbeer (2018)
• Dan Padover (2019–2021)
• Natalie Williams (2022–Present)

Assistant coaches

• Greg Williams (1997)
• Fred Williams (1998)
• Michael Layden (1999)
• Candi Harvey (1999–2000)
• Richard Smith (1999–2000)
• Tammy Reiss (2001–2003)
• Bobby Morse (2002)
• Shell Dailey (2003–2004)
• Vonn Read (2004)
• Brian Agler (2005–2007)
• Sandy Brondello (2005–2009)
• Vanessa Nygaard (2008, 2021)
• Olaf Lange (2008–2010)
• Vickie Johnson (2011–2016, 2018–2020)
• Steve Shuman (2011–2012)
• James Wade (2013–2016)
• Joi Williams (2017)
• Latricia Trammell (2017)
• Kelly Schumacher (2018–2020)
• Tanisha Wright (2020–2021)
• Sugar Rodgers (2021)
• Natalie Nakase (2022–Present)
• Tyler Marsh (2022–Present)
• Charlene Thomas-Swinson (2022–Present)

Statistics

Media coverage

The television rights for the Aces are held by KVVU-TV, owned by Gray Television. A minimum of ten games air on KVVU, with the remaining games airing on Silver State Sports and Entertainment Network, a subchannel of KVVU. KVVU also broadcasts a 30-minute weekly show on the Aces.

Some Aces games are broadcast nationally on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, Ion Television, CBS and the CBS Sports Network.

On radio, Aces games are broadcast locally on KWWN ESPN Las Vegas.

See also

In Spanish: Las Vegas Aces para niños