Aces: Wilson, Gray, and Young, the WNBA Dynasty Conquering the Three

PHOENIX – Jackie Young, with the ball in her hands and the final seconds of Game 4 of the WNBA Finals ticking away, had destiny in her hands. Chelsea Gray ran towards A’ja Wilson and joined the arms of the four-time MVP. The scoreboard became official and time expired. Young threw the ball into the air.The Las Vegas Aces were proclaimed WNBA champions in 2025, after defeating the Phoenix Mercury with a score of 97-86, thus ensuring the first 4-0 sweep in the history of the WNBA Finals.Gray hugged Wilson, and then Young joined the hug. Coach Becky Hammon approached Wilson, who was much taller. Aces fans, who traveled to Phoenix, chanted “Aces, Aces” from their small but enthusiastic section in the Mortgage Matchup Center. A fan waved a championship banner, the third for the Aces in the last four years.

“We have the best player in the world in A’ja Wilson,” Gray said. “Jackie Young is the best guard in the league. Everyone who came in was incredible. We are champions.”

Chelsea GrayBefore the Aces, only one team in league history had won three titles in four years: the Houston Comets in the league’s first four seasons (1997-2000). The Minnesota Lynx, who won four titles in seven years (2011-17), became the league’s second dynasty. Now, it’s the Aces’ era, of Wilson, Young, and Gray. Although the roster has changed since the Aces’ first title in 2022, these three players have been constants, seeking rings and titles in Las Vegas.”They understand what winning is,” said former Aces coach Bill Laimbeer.Individually they are exceptional, together they are legendary.

“They are family,” said Aces president Nikki Fargas. “They see this game, which they are fortunate enough to play, as an opportunity to build lasting memories. The road hasn’t always been easy for the three of them, but they have navigated the waters and have done so with each of them stepping up at different times to lead.”

Nikki Fargas

The seed of this modern WNBA dynasty was planted in 2018, when the San Antonio Silver Stars moved from Texas to the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and became the Aces. The franchise hired Laimbeer, a three-time WNBA champion coach with the Detroit Shock, as president of basketball operations and head coach.The Aces arrived with the first draft pick in their hands.Wilson, who led South Carolina to its first national championship in 2017, was the “obvious” choice, according to Laimbeer. The agile 6-foot-4 forward won Rookie of the Year in 2018 after averaging 20.7 points and 8.0 rebounds. However, the Aces finished with a 14-20 record and secured the first pick again in the 2019 draft.Las Vegas chose Jackie Young, a 6-foot guard who had won a national championship with Notre Dame in 2018.

“People might have thought that selecting me was a bit questionable,” Young said. “But he saw the vision from the beginning. He knew what kind of player I could become.”

Jackie YoungWilson and Young led Las Vegas to its first final in 2020, where they were swept by Seattle. Before the 2021 season, Gray, a 5-foot-11-inch guard with a 2016 championship ring with the Los Angeles Sparks, signed with Las Vegas.“She had championship experience, which the Aces needed,” Laimbeer said. “She was someone who had been there, who had done it, but also has the selfless mentality.”In Game 5 of the 2021 semifinals against the Mercury, the Aces were down by two points when Wilson had a few seconds left on the clock and the opportunity to take the Aces back to the Finals. Wilson split the double team and drove to the basket, but the Mercury’s center, Brittney Griner, blocked her shot at the final buzzer.Wilson collapsed on the court, exhausted and excited. Her teammates helped her back to the locker room. Young stayed there, holding Wilson and encouraging her. Gray left the court before them, lifting her shirt to cover her face.

“Getting hit in the face, it was painful,” Wilson said. “But at the same time, it built me.”

A’ja Wilson

The year 2021 stands out in Aces history for another reason: Mark Davis bought the team and the Aces hung the jersey of former franchise star and then-assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs, Hammon, in the rafters that summer. Fargas remembers grabbing Hammon’s hand when her jersey was raised to the ceiling.

“I almost sent him vibes,” Fargas said. “Like, ‘We want you here.'”.

Nikki Fargas

Laimbeer stepped aside after 2021, and in 2022 Hammon returned to the franchise that retired her number, this time ready to be displayed on the sidelines.

Lost in the Aces’ dominance over the Mercury in the 2025 WNBA Finals is the fact that they almost didn’t make it to the final round. Gray, who has made a career of putting the ball in the right place at the right time, sealed his third trip in four years.In the overtime of Game 5 of the semifinals, the Aces needed a big shot. Las Vegas was up by one over a team of the Indiana Fever that wouldn’t give up. The Fever had lost All-Stars Aliyah Boston (due to fouls) and Kelsey Mitchell (injured), and didn’t have Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham, who had been out with season-ending injuries for a long time. But the players on the court simply didn’t give up. They refused to let the Aces pull away.With just over three minutes remaining in overtime, Gray signaled to Young, who was heading left towards the center of the court. Young turned and passed the ball to Gray, who was positioned on the wing. Gray caught the ball and immediately shot a three-pointer. It went through the net.The next time they went down the court, Young scanned the floor as the shot clock wound down. Gray ran towards her and caught the ball behind the 3-point line. She dribbled twice with her left hand before shooting over a defender and stepping back to the side to score another three-pointer.

“That was crazy,” Young said. “I told him ‘I’m sorry, I prepared you safe'”.

Jackie Young

It didn’t matter that he was 0 for 3 from the 3-point line until those two shots, or that his lateral momentum made the degree of difficulty of the shot 10 out of 10. It was the moment of truth. It was Gray’s moment. With 1:09 to play, Gray scored a layup to give Las Vegas all the points they needed to finally break the Fever and secure a spot in the Finals against the Mercury.

Gray’s clutch gene worked when the Aces needed it most. The Aces had seen this show before. Gray was named Finals MVP when the Aces won their first championship in 2022 by defeating the Connecticut Sun in the Finals.During that playoff run, Gray averaged 21.7 points and 7.0 assists per game, with 61.1% field goal shooting and 54.4% from beyond the arc.In 2023, the Aces repeated, defeating the New York Liberty 3-1. Gray fractured her foot in Game 3 and was out for the final game of the series. She also missed the first 12 games of the 2024 season, and was still not fully recovered during the 2024 playoffs when the Aces were eliminated in the semifinals by a Liberty team seeking revenge.This year’s race required a different style of play from Gray. He was asked to score less frequently, but his 7.5 assists per game were the highest of his career in the postseason. Even so, in Game 4, he scored two three-pointers in the final quarter to stop the Mercury’s late push.

“My job with A’ja and Jackie is to find them a basket that’s easy, all they have to do is put it in,” Gray said. “They are able to go get a basket anytime they want one-on-one, but there are passes that only a few can catch.”

Chelsea Gray

Young sized up Mercury forward Natasha Mack on the wing in the third quarter of Game 2 of the 2025 Finals. She faked with her right foot, looking for vulnerabilities and seeking to drive. When that door didn’t open, Young looked around Mack and sought an opening to pass the ball to NaLyssa Smith on the post. Mack shut down that idea, too.Then, Young squared up, launched a three-pointer over Mack’s head, and sunk it. Her first three points in a historic 21-point quarter, the most in a single quarter of a WNBA Finals game.His ability to score in bunches had been so well documented that the people in his hometown gave him a nickname.Laimbeer found out a year after the Aces drafted Young when he ran into someone from her hometown. “There’s nobody from Jackie’s hometown,” Laimbeer joked about Princeton, Indiana, with a population of 8,481.Laimbeer shared with the Princeton person that what he liked about Young was that she was willing to yield to others, but was also willing to take charge of the game when necessary. No questions asked. “The lady says: ‘In our city, we call that Jackie Time'”, said Laimbeer.”Jackie Time” was on full display in the third quarter of Game 2. But he had help. Like the ball screens Wilson set to open driving lanes, or Wilson’s seal that gave Young an open jump shot.Wilson and Young have played together for seven years. Their relationship grew one game and one car ride at a time.In their early years together with the Aces, they often drove around Las Vegas. Their city. Mostly in Wilson’s car because “I’m a bit of a passenger princess,” Young said. Those off-court moments built a relationship that strengthened their on-court chemistry.

“That’s my little sister I never wanted, but that God put in my life,” Wilson said.

A’ja Wilson

Laimbeer told them to appreciate each other.

“You two are a team forever,” Laimbeer recalled telling Young and Wilson. “Never let each other go.”

Bill Laimbeer

Wilson caught the pass from Gray at the baseline with the score tied in Game 3. The clock flashed as he advanced towards the buzzer. Wilson dribbled to his left, past Mercury All-Star Alyssa Thomas. When he met DeWanna Bonner, he stopped dribbling and pivoted to his right. Thomas recovered and tried to contest Wilson’s shot. She flicked her wrist towards the basket with 2.2 seconds remaining.The ball bounced around the rim before falling to give the Aces a 3-0 series lead. It was the crowning moment of Wilson’s rise. She, alone, occupies the top of the mountain. However, her legacy, though still taking shape, has already secured her a place among basketball legends.

“Probably number 1,” Wilson said about where she would rank that shot in her career. “I don’t think I’ve ever hit a true game-winner, and then when I see 2.2 on the clock, it just reminds me that I’m covered [by God]. And I think that’s really special.”

A’ja Wilson

Laimbeer knew he had made the right decision when he selected Wilson at number 1. But he also knew that she had many leadership lessons to learn in the transition from college to professional. “There are a lot of things that come with the responsibility of being a franchise player, and she had to learn that,” Laimbeer said.After losing Game 1 of the semifinals at home against the Fever last month, Wilson had a difficult message for her teammates. “I told my team that yesterday’s loss was more embarrassing for me than the 53-point loss,” Wilson said the day after the game, referring to the Aces’ 111-58 disaster against Minnesota on August 2. “It was like we really didn’t do anything.”Wilson, for his part, didn’t play well in the first game of the semifinals. He scored 6 of 22 shots and scored 16 points. From then until he lifted the trophy, he averaged 27.3 points with 47.9% shooting, 10.1 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 2.5 blocks. She was named Finals MVP, after winning the scoring title, MVP and Co-Defensive Player of the Year this season.

“She keeps getting better,” Hammon said. “She just keeps surprising me too. And we keep challenging her in these different ways. She just keeps adding things. She’s not even 30 yet.”

Becky Hammon

“I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT!”, Gray says as he walks down the hall towards the Aces’ locker room. “See you next summer!”.Wilson is not far behind. Grabbing the championship trophy, he jumps through the hallway before running towards the locker room.When the players emerge, they wear champagne glasses and smell like beer. Wilson enters the press conference playing a pink tambourine while the owner of the Aces, Davis, tries to answer a serious question.

“I need to sit down,” Wilson says and finds a spot among the media chairs, still with her glasses.

A’ja Wilson

The celebration continues. Wilson plays the tambourine, using it as emphatic punctuation for her teammates’ statements. She looks bewildered when someone mentions comparisons to Michael Jordan. Young silently holds her large bottle of champagne or beer, it’s unclear which, opting not to speak unless spoken to. Except when she whispers to Wilson behind Gray’s back. Gray tries to keep everyone in line.

“These three,” says Hammon about her trio of stars, with tears in her eyes. “I love being their coach. I love being their friend. I love being a phone call for them. I push them sometimes, perhaps, to their displeasure a bit, but I am invested in their greatness.”

Becky HammonWhile Hammon speaks, Wilson holds a towel so she can’t look at her coach. But as Hammon continues, Wilson lowers the towel, lifts her glasses, and covers her tearful eyes. Gray and Young look away from their teammate and coach in an effort to hide their own emotion.Gray, Wilson, and Young are free agents after this season. They could go anywhere, but why would they?Individually they are exceptional. Together they are legendary.

“Greatness is who you’re with,” Wilson says. “Like this group.”

A’ja Wilson