Raiders owner Mark Davis

Raiders Owner Is A Regular At WNBA Aces Games — Even the 12 Noon Camp Day Games

Aces fan Mark Davis

By Alan Snel

LVSportsBiz.com

 

No matter when the Las Vegas Aces tip off their WNBA games at Mandalay Bay Events Center, there’s Raiders owner Mark Davis sitting in his courtside seat near half court.

Mark Davis

There he was again Tuesday for the home schedule’s lone 12 noon camp day game as a smallish crowd watched the Aces defeat the Chicago Sky, 90-82.

The crowd included Davis, who watched the Aces make 68 percent of their shots in the first half as the Las Vegas squad led, 55-54, after two quarters. Aces guard Kelsey Plum had a nice bounceback game with 14 points, while Kayla McBride (16 points), A’ja Wilson (16), Dearica Hamby (14) and Liz Cambage (16 points) all scored in double figures for the Aces.

Aces scorer Kayla McBride discusses the 90-82 win during a post-game interview.

On camp day, attendance took a hit with an announced number of 3,516, though that seemed generous when you scanned the arena that can hold upwards to 10,000. There were lots of camp-age kids in the seats, along with older fans sprinkled around the rows in the arena.

Coach Bill Laimbeer was not a big fan of the camp day 12 noon start, but went along with it.

Aces coach Bill Laimbeer

Because of the early start, the players dressed in pajamas in their locker room after the game.

Several players like Sugar Rodgers, McBride and Wilson said they typically practice at that hour, so their bodies were ready for basketball. Here are Wilson and McBride after the game.

A’ja Wilson

“It was a struggle in the beginning,” Wilson. “When the ball goes up, we have to zone in.”

McBride said she liked the 12 noon start. “It’s different, having an early start. I think most of us like. You have to show up and play no matter what time the game is.”

The Aces improve to 8-5 during the 34-game schedule and now have the third best record in the 12-team WNBA. They also are doing well in the voting for players for the WNBA All-Star Game, which is scheduled for Nov. 27 at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Aces center Liz Cambage

LVSportsBiz.com writer Cassandra Cousineau put together this update Tuesday.

The Aces have four players in the top 20 voting spots as announced today by the WNBA. The list includes Wilson with 15,379 votes just behind leading vote-getter Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics. Cambage is third with 12,756, while McBride is 14th with 8,425 and Plum is 17th with 7,046.
According to WNBA All-Star Game rules, fan voting accounts for 50 percent of the total determining the ten starters. Current WNBA players and a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters each account for 25 percent. 
After the starters have been determined, the league’s head coaches will vote for the reserves and will be announced on July 15. The top two vote-getters will be dubbed captains and allowed to draft their rosters from the remaining eight players in the pool of starters and then from the pool of 12 reserves.  Fans can vote on WNBA.com until the window closes at 10:59 PST on July 9. 
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Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.