The Las Vegas Aces Are WNBA’s 1st Repeat Champions in Over 20 Years

In other WNBA news, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner celebrates her first birthday since returning home to the United States.

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A’ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces celebrates after defeating the New York Liberty during Game Four of the 2023 WNBA Finals.
A’ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces celebrates after defeating the New York Liberty during Game Four of the 2023 WNBA Finals.
Photo: Sarah Stier (Getty Images)

The 2023 WNBA season came to a thrilling end on Wednesday with the Las Vegas Aces 70-69 victory over the New York Liberty, clinching the team’s second straight WNBA Championship. With a 3-1 series win, the Aces became the first team since 2002 to repeat. In the tightest game of the finals, New York came out aggressive, looking to even things up, but 2023 Defensive Player of the Year A’ja Wilson was not having it. She delivered 24 points and 16 rebounds as she led the injury plagued Aces to another title. The team was without pivotal point guard Chelsea Gray, who hurt her foot in Game 3. At one point, during the broadcast, it was mentioned that the majority of Las Vegas’ offense runs through Gray, and New York took advantage of that in the first half.

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Though she missed the second half of the season due to injury, Las Vegas’ Candace Parker is now the first WNBA player to win three titles with three different teams. She previously won championships with the Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks.

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Honestly, the Liberty just came alive too late in the series. MVP Breanna Stewart and superstar Sabrina Ionescu couldn’t find their offensive groove in the first two games, and it never quite felt like they had a chance against the dominant champs.

Hopefully, the Aces get their well-deserved White House invite this time around.

Now that the season has officially ended, women’s basketball fans can turn their attention to college games, as well as preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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Brittney Griner’s Best Birthday Ever!

While the rest of the women’s basketball world has been focused on the fantastic WNBA Finals, one superstar is finding joy in simply being with her family. On Wednesday, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner celebrated her 33rd birthday. To mark the occasion, her wife, Cherelle Griner, posted an Instagram video featuring a montage of beautiful moments of their life together.

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“Happy birthday my love! God did his big one with you. I couldn’t ask for a better soul to do life with! Celebrating you is easy and to love you is an honor,” Cherelle wrote. “Cheers to another year baby.”

Brittney replied to her wife’s lovely message, writing, “Awww baby I love you so much.”

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This is a major milestone for the two-time Olympic gold medalist, as it’s her first birthday since being released from a Russian prison. After being “wrongfully detained” for 10 months, the basketball star returned to the United States when a prisoner swap in December 2022 led to her release.

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Until she’s ready to tell her story, which may be in her upcoming memoir, we may never fully understand how horrible Brittney’s imprisonment in Russia was. She’s been able to jump back into her life by having an all-star season with the Mercury, and advocating for other Americans being wrongfully imprisoned overseas, however, these small moments are the truly important ones.