Don’t think for a moment that the Aces aren’t ready to defend their title. In fact, they’re on a roll, and cannot but be deemed the favorites following their shellacking of the Storm in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs. For all the travails they experienced at the start of their 2024 campaign, there can be no questioning their preeminent status as they face the Liberty next. And, under the circumstances, it’s fair to argue that the rough stretches they had in the face of an injury to “point gawd” Chelsea Gray and inconsistent play from fellow starters Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum are in the past.
Certainly, the Aces are a threat in any case, what with A’ja Wilson spearheading their cause on both ends of the floor as the best of the best in pro hoops. She was just named the Most Valuable Player awardee off a unanimous vote for only the second time in league annals, and with reason; the numbers she produced — first to keep the defending champions treading water, and then to underscore their ascendancy — are unprecedented, and she’s still going strong. Never mind her evident lack of rest following a successful run as Team USA’s anchor in the Paris Olympics.
Given the challenges that have come the Aces’ way on and off the court, it’s a wonder they’re even in the hunt for the hardware. If there’s anything they have in abundance, however, it’s resiliency borne of experience. Make that vast experience. Not for nothing are they back-to-back titleholders, and not for nothing do they utterly believe that they are fated for a threepeat. They’ve been there and done that, and are all the better for having been tested en route — and, of course, for having Wilson as the proverbial ace in the hole they can brandish again and again.
First things first, though. The Liberty are holders of the best record in the WNBA from the outset, and, on paper, superior odds, and the Aces are not taking the task lightly. It isn’t simply that they’ll be on the road for the first two matches of the best-of-five affair. It’s that they’ll be up against their biggest threats; they were on the short end of the stick in each of the three times they faced their vaunted foils this year. Which is to say they would do well to steal at least one win at Barclays Center, and then get the job done at the Michelob ULTRA Arena. Needless to say, they’re prepped and primed, and with Wilson in tow, who’s to say they can’t do the job?
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.