Las Vegas Aces Offer Unique Entertainment Attraction — The Tall Dude Who Likes To Berate Refs

 

By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com

 

The WNBA has a home in Las Vegas and some of the world’s most talented female basketball players have displayed their elite hoops skills on the Las Vegas Aces’ home court, ranging from Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi to LA’s Candace Parker to a new rookie star — the Aces’ own A’ja Wilson.

 

But sports are about entertainment in this town, and selling a sports entertainment product means rolling out more than just a basketball or a hockey puck. The Aces, in their inaugural season in Las Vegas after being moved from San Antonio by new owner MGM Resorts International, have enlisted everyone from Blue Man Group to Jabbawockeez to give an entertainment boost to fans at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

 

And if you’re attending an Aces game and sitting behind the team bench and the six-foot, 11-inch guy who is coaching the WNBA club, you’re treated to another form of entertainment — Bill Laimbeer and his verbal engagements with the three WNBA referees who keep law and order on the hardwood.

Coach Bill Laimbeer is expressive on the Aces bench. Photo credit: J. Tyge O’Donnell/LVSportsBiz.com

 

It’s hard not to notice Laimbeer when he goes into full ref berating mode because he blends in a sardonic wit into a verbal brew that also contains a dose of tirade sometimes.

 

All in all, the former Detroit Pistons “Bad Boy” who won two NBA titles in 1989 and 1990 and three WNBA championships as coach of the Detroit Shock in 2003, 2006 and 2008 is worth the price of admission just watching his sideline performance for two hours.

 

The full smorgasbord of Laimbeer salutations for the refs was on full display Wednesday night, when the Aces lost a 104-93 decision to the Phoenix Mercury and suffered a setback in the team’s quest for a playoff berth.  The Mercury’s Taurasi poured in 37 points, while center Brittney Griner added another 25 points, with DeWanna Bonner even adding 20 points more. The Aces’ star, Wilson, led the home team with 29 points, but outside shooter Kayla McBride made only five of 17 field goal attempts en route to a sub-par 18-point performance.

 

On one play in the first half, Laimbeer could not believe a foul was called on guard Moriah Jefferson when Taurasi fell to the ground. Laimbeer needled the refs by saying that even the Phoenix coach was laughing at the call.

 

Laimbeer also grew angry on a different play when a ref did not call a timeout that his team had requested.

 

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Jose Volonte, who runs a podcast called, “Straight Bet Sports,” and a web site by the same name, sits on media row near Laimbeer and has a good view of Laimbeer’s sideline behavior.

 

“To be able to sit behind him, you can see how animated he gets with the refs. It is unbelievable. Why not come out and see it. Not too many coaches get that animated,” Volonte said. “You can see some of the fear he puts into the referees.”

 

One of the refs was getting tired of hearing from Laimbeer and told him throughout the game that she didn’t want to hear his words anymore. But it didn’t stop Laimbeer from chewing the ears off of her two referee partners on the court.

 

The team announced an attendance of 5,129 in an arena that holds about 7,500. The Aces hit the road for games against the Washington Mystics Friday, the Connecticut Sun Sunday and Atlanta Dream Tuesday before returning to Mandalay Bay Events Center Aug. 9 with a game with the Minnesota Lynx. Here’s a look at the standings, as the Aces are two games behind the last playoff position with eight games left in the 34-game season.

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