Aces Offer Good Sports Value For The Dollar
By Cassandra Cousineau
LVSportsBiz.com
A week ago you couldn’t hear the ball bounce inside Thomas & Mack Center through the deafening sounds of 7,981 at the Las Vegas Aces playoff game against the Chicago Sky. Some fans were clapping. Some were chanting, “DEFENSE.” Some turned away and peeked over shoulders to watch 14.3 seconds tick away. Courtney Vandersloot, the Sky’s 85 percent free throw shooter, was hounded by Aces guard Kelsey Plum under her own basket. Tick, tick, tick, the seconds were slipping away with Aces WNBA championship hopes.
Vandersloot found daylight and saw a streaking Diamond DeShields. But thanks to Aces guard Sydney Colson, Vandersloot didn’t see Aces’ sixth-player star Dearica Hamby behind DeShields. Hamby picked off the pass. Then, without a breath in between at 8.3 seconds, she nailed a desperation 38-footer to put the Aces up by one point. That one point is all it took to send Las Vegas on to the WNBA semifinals, which continue today with a Game 3 match with the Washington Mystics at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
It’s been that kind of season for the Las Vegas Aces and 11 other teams around the WNBA. The best players in women’s basketball put on a show filled with quality play, athleticism, and competitive match-ups. Also of note, the WNBA requires players to be at least 22 years of age, to have completed their college eligibility, to have graduated from a four-year college or to be four years removed from high school.
The product stands on its own. There are invariable comparisons to the NBA and attempts to qualify participation through the lens of a patriarchal narrative. Although, the constant support and appearances by Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and LeBron James underscore this is just great basketball.
“It’s hard to convince people who have never seen a game. I want fans to watch the WNBA on TV, and come to the arena to get the full experience,” the Aces All-star forward A’ja Wison told LVSportsbiz.com.