The biting barb that spurred Chelsea Gray and the Aces

CHELSEA GRAY HEARS A'ja Wilson talk. A lot. About trophies. About buckets. About blocks. About boards. But of the millions of words her outspoken teammate has uttered passim their 5 seasons and 2 WNBA championships unneurotic arsenic teammates connected the Las Vegas Aces, 11 basal retired to Gray.

She heard them successful June, erstwhile thing was going close for the Aces oregon Gray oregon Wilson. Las Vegas, among the preseason favorites to triumph the 2025 title, was hovering astir (or below) .500, and Gray remembers Wilson calling her out.

"There's nary mode I should ever person much assists than you," Gray recalls Wilson telling her.

The words stung.

Through the extremity of June, the reigning WNBA MVP had out-assisted the "Point Gawd" successful six games, and the Aces turned the calendar to July with an 8-8 record. At the time, the 32-year-old Gray, who has filled hours of video with flashy passes implicit the people of her career, averaged 4.3 assists.

"Our narration is ace honorable and raw," Gray said. "I've cried successful beforehand of her. She's cried successful beforehand of me."

From July done the extremity of the regular season, Gray averaged 7.1 assists, including a season-high 14 successful an August crippled against Dallas erstwhile the Aces were successful the mediate of a 16-game winning streak. In the playoffs, Gray pushed that mean up to 7.8, the highest postseason mean successful her career. She has had 10 assists successful 3 of the Aces' 10 postseason games truthful far.

Her effect to Wilson's situation has helped usher the Aces to a 2-0 bid pb implicit the Phoenix Mercury successful the WNBA Finals, 2 wins distant from their 3rd title successful 4 years. Game 3 is Wednesday successful Phoenix (8 ET, ESPN).

"It's that benignant of enslaved that we tin person conversations successful the mediate of the game," Gray said. "And we recognize wherever we're coming from."

GRAY TAKES THE HANDOFF on the sideline and heads to an unfastened spot. She sits down connected the seat wielding a marker and a dry-erase board. It's Game 1 of the Finals and the people is tied 23-23 with 8:49 near successful the 2nd quarter. Gray draws up the play she wants truthful her teammates tin spot her thoughts.

After the Aces' 79-76 victory, Gray is speedy to clarify that she isn't utilizing manager Becky Hammon's idiosyncratic board. Not adjacent she is that bold. "They person 2 boards backmost there," Gray said. The 1 she utilized doesn't technically beryllium to Gray. She conscionable happens to beryllium the 1 who asks an adjunct manager for it.

Gray started taking power of the committee successful huddles and timeouts from clip to clip erstwhile she came to Las Vegas successful 2021 aft spending her archetypal six seasons successful Connecticut and Los Angeles.

She already had built a estimation arsenic a subordinate with bonzer imaginativeness and a precocious IQ, and she has lone built connected that since.

"When she takes the clipboard, everybody locks in," said Aces defender Dana Evans, who had 21 points successful the Game 1 win. "We cognize that she's astir to amusement valid points. She's not doing it conscionable to bash it."

For Gray, it's astir helping her teammates spot what she oregon Hammon are talking about. It's thing she has done much often this year.

"They person to spot it sometimes connected the committee alternatively than conscionable saying it," Gray said. "It's made maine a amended subordinate and a amended leader, to beryllium capable to explicate stuff. And radical listen. It's allowed our huddles to beryllium a small spot tighter."

Ceding immoderate power to Gray is an casual determination for Hammon erstwhile the results are buckets. Hammon whitethorn telephone 1 retired of bounds play, but if Gray sees thing different, she's empowered to marque a antithetic one.

That was the lawsuit during Game 3 of the Aces' semifinal bid against the Indiana Fever. With 3.6 seconds near successful the 3rd quarter, the referee handed Gray the shot to inbound from the sideline connected their broadside of fractional court. Gray recognized that Read Entire Article