Las Vegas Aces

Las Vegas Aces coach Bill Laimbeer moved into second place on the WNBA's all-time coaches wins list Thursday.

The Aces earned a 94-82 win over the New York Liberty to give Laimbeer 288 career wins, breaking a tie with Brian Agler. Washington Mystics coach Mike Thibault is the sport's winningest head coach with 346 wins (and counting).

Laimbeer, a four-time All-Star and two-time champion during his NBA career, has put together a decorated career since starting coaching in 2002. He led the Detroit Shock from 2002-2009, winning three championships in the process, before a brief stint as an assistant with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2009-2011.

After failing to secure an NBA head coaching position, Laimbeer returned to the WNBA in 2012 as the coach and general manager of the Liberty. He spent five seasons in New York, failing to replicate his success in Detroit, before he moved on to the expansion Aces ahead of the 2018 campaign.

Las Vegas missed the playoffs in its inaugural season but has been among the WNBA's best each of the last two years. The Aces made their first Conference Finals in 2019 and reached the Finals for the first time in the WNBA bubble last year. 

 “He has a large personality to go with his physique, and he coaches kind of like he played. He wants to have an intimidating team," Thibault said of Laimbeer in 2019. 

The Aces are off to a stellar 6-3 start in the 2021 regular season. 

Connecticut Sun coach Curt Miller has been suspended for one game and fined $10,000 after making an inappropriate comment about the weight of Aces center Liz Cambage during Sunday's win over Las Vegas. 

Miller apologized for his remarks on Monday.

"I made an inappropriate and offensive comment in reference to Liz Cambage's height and weight. I regret what I said in the heat of the moment and want to sincerely apologize to Liz and the entire Aces organization. I understand the gravity of my words and have learned from this," Miller said in a statement.

Cambage posted an Instagram Story on Sunday night detailing the incident, saying Miller told an official "she's 300 pounds" while attempting to get a favorable call. (Warning: Video contains NSFW language.)

“Something went down in today’s game and I need to speak on it because if there is one thing about me is that I will never let a man disrespect me ever, ever, ever, especially a little white one,” Cambage said. “So, to the coach of Connecticut, I’m sorry little sir man I do not know your name, but the next time you try to call out a referee trying to get a call being like, ‘Come on, she's 300 pounds.’ I’m going to need you to get it right, baby, because I’m 6'8", I’m weighing, I just double-checked because I love to be correct and give facts, I’m weighing 235 pounds, and I’m very proud of being a big b---h, a big body, big Benz baby. So, don’t ever try to disrespect me or another woman in the league.”

Cambage went on to say Miller's comments constituted a form of "protected abuse" because she would be punished if she engaged with a coach of the opposing team. She says she believes trash talk between players falls under a different spectrum than a coach commenting on the weight of a player.

There is also the added poor optics of a man in power commenting on a woman's weight or body. 

Miller will serve his suspension on Tuesday night when the Sun play the Seattle Storm on the road.

WNBA star Liz Cambage took to Instagram on Friday to express her frustration about a promotional photo shoot that did not include any athletes of color, threatening to boycott the Olympics by not making an appearance for her home country of Australia.

Part of Australia's Olympic and Paralympic contingent posed in a photo for apparel brand Jockey, one of the team's sponsors. Cambage spoke out about that photo shoot as well as an earlier photo that promoted the country's uniforms, in which every athlete but one was white.

"If I've said it once I've said it a million times," she wrote, per Scott Gleeson of USA Today. "HOW AM I MEANT TO REPRESENT A COUNTRY THAT DOESNT EVEN REPRESENT ME #whitewashedaustralia.

"Y'all really do anything to remove POCs from the forefront when it's black athletes leading the pack. Until I see you doing more @ausolympicteam imma sit this one out."

Cambage, who was born in London to an Australian mother and a Nigerian father, also targeted Jockey, telling the brand, "you knew exactly what you were doing."

"You need me to send you a list of all the Black or POC athletes that are trying to make it to the Olympics right now that you could use? I can do it!” the three-time All-Star said.

The Australian Olympic Committee issued a statement Friday acknowledging that the Jockey photo shoot "should have better reflected the diversity of our Team."

"We proudly defend our track record on diversity and there will be further photoshoots that reflect our broad diversity of athletes," the statement read.

Addressing the statement, Cambage said: "Yes, I saw the apology. Words don't mean anything to me. Actions mean something to me. So, let me see it."

The Las Vegas Aces announced Friday that the WNBA and NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Aces franchise to Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis. 

Davis, who has owned the Raiders franchise since the death of his father, Al Davis, in 2011, purchased the Aces from MGM Grand International.

He now owns two professional sports franchises in Vegas after moving the Raiders from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020.

The Aces have been in Las Vegas since 2018 after a number of relocations. The franchise began as the Utah Starzz in 1997, which was one of the original WNBA franchises, and then moved to San Antonio in 2003 and became the Silver Stars before moving to Vegas.

In the franchise's first 21 years of existence before moving to Las Vegas, it reached the WNBA Finals once, losing to the Detroit Shock in 2008.

Since the move to Vegas, however, the Aces have become one of the league's premier franchises.

Las Vegas went 21-13 in 2019 and reached the conference finals before falling to the Washington Mystics. Then, last season, despite being without star center Liz Cambage who opted out of the campaign, the Aces made it to the WNBA Finals after an 18-4 regular season but were swept by the Seattle Storm.

With head coach Bill Laimbeer and reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson leading the way, Vegas may be the favorite to win it all in 2021.

The Aces are stacked with top-flight talent in the form of All-Stars Wilson, Cambage and Angel McCoughtry. They also have two young, rising stars at guard in Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum and added guards Chelsea Gray and Riquna Williams in free agency.

Las Vegas is set up to be a championship contender for many years to come, and with the funding of Davis now backing the team, it stands to reason that everything possible will be done to not win only one title, but multiple championships.

The Las Vegas Aces reportedly will sign guard Chelsea Gray, according to Howard Megdal of The Next.

Gray spent the past five years with the Los Angeles Sparks, earning three All-Star selections while contributing to the 2016 squad that won the WNBA title. She finished last season averaging 14.0 points and a team-high 5.3 assists per game. 

The 28-year-old is also known for her outside shooting, making 38.5 percent of three-point attempts in her career.

It helps add another weapon for the Aces, who could be one of the top teams in the league in 2021.

Las Vegas went 18-4 last season to equal the best regular-season mark in the league before reaching the WNBA Finals. A'ja Wilson won the MVP award after averaging 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while veteran Angel McCoughtry remained an impact player in both ends.

The season ended in disappointment after being swept by the Seattle Storm in the finals, but the Aces could be even stronger next season with three-time All-Star Liz Cambage returning after opting out of 2020.

With Gray now in the fold, there might not be a better lineup in the league.

She also helps replace Kayla McBride, who will reportedly join the Minnesota Lynx, per WSLAM.

Gray's signing does represent a tough blow for the Sparks, which already lost superstar Candace Parker in free agency to the Chicago Sky, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.

The team will have to rebuild around Nneka Ogwumike, who was designated a Core Player earlier this month.

Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis announced Thursday he has agreed to purchase the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces:

George Kliavkoff, MGM Resorts International's president of entertainment and sports, confirmed the sale, which still requires approval from the WNBA Board of Governors.

Davis moved the Raiders to Las Vegas in 2020 after the NFL team spent the previous 25 seasons in Oakland.

The Aces are also relatively new to the city, moving from San Antonio ahead of the 2018 season after being bought by MGM Resorts.

The Aces have become one of the top teams in the WNBA, leading the league with an 18-4 record last season. League MVP A'ja Wilson took the squad to the 2020 WNBA Finals, where it lost to the Seattle Storm.

Davis has been a regular at games as part of his immersion in the Las Vegas sports scene. As Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press noted (via Yahoo Sports), the Raiders purchased 1,600 tickets during the 2019 season to distribute to kids.

"The Aces are like the Raiders' sisters, and the [NHL's] Golden Knights are like our brothers," Davis said in 2018.

He is now set to control two professional teams in Las Vegas.

WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson wasn't happy with the grand jury decision regarding the Breonna Taylor case, calling it nothing more than just a "slap on the wrist," per Mechelle Voepel of ESPN.

After Taylor was shot and killed by police officers executing a no-knock warrant in March, a grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, decided Wednesday not to charge any of the three involved with directly killing the Black woman. Former officer Brett Hankison was indicted on first-degree wanton endangerment charges for shooting into neighboring apartments, while the other two officers involved face no charges, per Ray Sanchez and Elizabeth Joseph of CNN. 

Wilson discussed her disappointment Thursday along with her next steps:

"I can't even express it enough, how tough it is, and just how disgusted that I am. But this has not stopped the fight; this will never stop my fight This is making me want to push through even more, because Black women deserve so much better than what is going on right now. It just lights a fire in my ass to continue to do what I need to get done and to push through this, and then work from outside the bubble once these couple of weeks are up."

The 24-year-old has been a star on the court inside the WNBA bubble at IMG Academy in Florida. She averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in the regular season, leading her Las Vegas Aces to the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

A win Thursday against the Connecticut Sun would put the Aces in the WNBA Finals.

The WNBA has also been focused on issues off the court. It dedicated the 2020 season to Taylor and the Say Her Name movement, even putting her name on jerseys.

The league put out a statement following Wednesday's decision, calling it a "disappointing outcome."

Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson was crowned the 2020 WNBA MVP on Thursday. 

Wilson averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 22 games during the regular season. She was also the single biggest reason the Aces tied for the best record (18-4) securing the No. 1 seed in the playoffs in a tiebreaker with the Seattle Storm.

Many viewed the MVP race as a head-to-head battle between Wilson and Storm star Breanna Stewart. The former was ultimately the runaway winner, earning 43 first-place votes to three for Stewart.

Stewart has made a remarkable comeback from the Achilles tear that kept her out for the entire 2019 season. The 2018 MVP averaged 19.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 36.8 percent from three-point range.

Few will dispute the outcome of the voting, though.

The Aces lost two of their starters before the season even began. Liz Cambage opted out, while Kelsey Plum underwent Achilles surgery in June. Their absences put serious strain on a roster that was already top-heavy to begin with.

To some extent, Cambage's absence was good for Wilson because it meant the former South Carolina star would be the focal point of the offense. She scored 20 more total points compared to 2019 despite playing 43 fewer minutes.

Voters can often fall into the trap of coronating the best player on the best team, which doesn't always speak to the player's overall value.

According to WNBA.com, the Aces had a 12.5 net rating with Wilson on the court. Their net rating fell to 3.8 in the 183 minutes she was on the bench. Her 4.0 win shares were also second-highest in the league behind Chicago Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot (4.1), per Basketball Reference.

Now, Wilson will set her sights on mirroring Stewart's breakout 2018 campaign when the former UConn star added a WNBA title and Finals MVP to her resume.

Las Vegas Aces superstar Liz Cambage will miss the 2020 season but still receive her full salary after the WNBA gave her a medical exception amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Mechelle Voepel of ESPN. 

Per that report, Cambage wanted to play this season but "fell severely ill while playing in China over the winter and then was ruled a medically high-risk player by the Aces' team doctor in June. She then had to wait to see if the WNBA would challenge that, but [Aces head coach Bill Laimbeer] said it did not."

The WNBA season will begin on Saturday, with the league's players operating in a bubble environment in Bradenton, Florida, similar to what the NBA has at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

Players who voluntarily opted out of the season will not get paid, but players who receive medical exceptions, like Cambage, Washington Mystics center Tina Charles, Phoenix Mercury forward Jessica Breland and New York Liberty guard Asia Durr, will. The WNBA reserved the right to review any case of a team doctor deciding a player should be medically exempt from participating in the 2020 season. 

"Our team doctor said, 'No, she's not going to play in this environment,'" Laimbeer said, per Voepel. "The league said, 'Wait, we're maybe going to put her in front of the panel.' We're of the position that we stand by our medical staff. Then it became beyond our control regarding whatever happened. About a week ago, we got a call from the league saying that they were not going to challenge the decision on Liz."

Cambage believed she may have caught the coronavirus during her time in China. 

"I actually was sick in hospital, and I honestly think I had corona," Cambage told Australia's The Herald Sun in March (h/t Voepel). "I was so weak, I couldn't walk, I was in a wheelchair. I had pneumonia. I think I had it before it was a global thing."

Cambage, 28, averaged 15.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in the 2019 season. She helped Las Vegas reach the postseason and was an All-Star for the third time. 

Las Vegas Aces center Liz Cambage will likely miss the 2020 WNBA season because a preexisting condition puts her at high risk if she were to contract COVID-19.

"In the evaluation of Liz Cambage's health and preexisting risk factors with her team doctor, we believe her to be at high risk for severe illness if she contracts COVID-19 in participating this WNBA season," Cambage's agent, Allison Galer, told Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press on Saturday. "We are awaiting the league's determination based on an independent physician panel."

Galer did not disclose Cambage's condition. The panel of independent physicians will determine whether Cambage will receive her full salary for the 2020 season. There are a "handful" of players who have applied to be able to sit out because of a medical condition.

Teams are scheduled to begin traveling to Florida on Monday for quarantine, ahead of the tip-off of the WNBA season later this month. 

Cambage, the 2018 WNBA scoring leader, made her third All-Star team in 2019. She has played in only four seasons since making her WNBA debut in 2011, instead choosing to play in China and Australia from 2013-2018.

"Liz is a generational talent and we are going to miss her this season on the court and in the locker room," Aces general manager Dan Padover said. "She has been incredibly active this offseason in the community raising money to support first responders who battled the brush fires in Australia, continuing to shine a light on mental health awareness, and standing at the forefront of the peaceful protests in her country battling social and racial inequality, and I have no doubt that she will continue to do so this summer.

"Although Liz won't be with us in Florida, she has our full support, and will continue to be a part of the Aces family and the city of Las Vegas for many years to come."

Cambage's absence will leave a sizable hole in the Aces' lineup and take away another marketable star from a league that's already without Maya Moore, who is not playing basketball in 2020 to focus on social justice causes.