What does it take to win the WNBA Finals? Aces share championship secrets

PHOENIX ― The Las Vegas Aces haven’t had an easy route to the WNBA Finals.

The Aces were 11-11 at the All-Star break before their inconceivable 16-game win streak to finish the regular season. They went from ninth place in the WNBA standings to the WNBA Finals. Forward A’ja Wilson was asked to describe the season in one word and eventually settled on circuitous, meaning having a circular or winding course. Wilson’s depiction of the Aces’ path to a possible third title in four seasons is perfect in every sense of the word.

As the 2025 WNBA Finals continue, USA TODAY asked the Aces one question: What goes into championship DNA? The players pointed to several key components including keeping their composure, doing all the little things right, being relentless and putting team over self.

‘I don’t know if people understand the pressure that athletes face in any game, but obviously in the Finals, it’s just different,’ guard Jewell Loyd said. ‘I think having that resilient mindset and just being really composed ― you can’t really forget who you are and what got you here.’

Loyd said Las Vegas has had numerous conversations about fundamentals like boxing out, rebounding and meeting the ball, which may feel akin to things players practice in middle school basketball. Still, Loyd maintains everything matters at this stage. Guard Chelsea Gray says to winning a championship involves things that don’t show up on a stat sheet.

As USA TODAY chatted with more Aces players, there was another overarching sentiment and premise that they agreed upon. Any athlete in the WNBA Finals is typically a ‘dawg,’ someone who is relentless in their pursuit of winning at a high level. Dawgs are the ultimate competitors who would stop at nothing to win, but also they are selfless for the greater good of the team.

They put the team before themselves, and they are so good individually, but even better with other ‘dawgs.’ Guard Dana Evans, who had 21 points off the bench in Las Vegas’ Game 1 win over the Phoenix Mercury, gave a simple yet rousing definition of what being a ‘dawg’ means at this stage.

‘You gotta really, really want it because both teams are gonna fight really, really hard to be the champion,’ Evans said. ‘You gotta be able to separate yourself, and have that ‘dawg’ mentality, like, ‘No, I’m going to take it’ pretty much attitude.’

Many on Las Vegas’ roster are familiar with taking titles. Gray leads the team with three rings. Wilson, Loyd, guard Jackie Young, forward Kierstan Bell and center Kiah Stokes each have two championships. Evans rounds out the group with the title she won with Chicago Sky in 2021. With that much experience, it’s easy to think players might have the need to take over. However, center Megan Gustafson says it’s the opposite.

For Las Vegas, it’s about making sure everyone is a star in their role and ensuring each person is doing what is asked by the coaching staff and supporting one another. Gustafson says there may be superstars on their team, but when you’re chasing a championship, none of that matters.

‘At the end of the day, we don’t care about who has the most points, who’s doing the best,’ Gustafson said. ‘A’ja [Wilson] ― she doesn’t care at all. She just wants Aces to win. She doesn’t want herself to win. She wants Aces to win. We all want the Aces to win.’That sort of mentality is something coach Becky Hammon has prioritized throughout her entire tenure. Hammon made it clear she values high-character individuals who build good habits, and that’s why she’s passed on very good players who she believed, while talented, didn’t quite fit the Aces.

She also said she expects her players to be who they are every day, no matter the circumstance. Hammon said if she’s asking her team to be themselves, but ‘they are an a–hole, it’s probably not going to work out.’ In her words, she’ll take character and competitiveness because she can ‘cook with that,’ and she has, to within one win of another WNBA Finals championship.

‘I got a group of ladies that are all that, have all those intangibles,’ Hammon said. ‘You’re talking about character? Like A’ja [Wilson], Chelsea [Gray], Jackie [Young], Jewell [Loyd], Cheyenne [Parker-Tyus], Kiah [Stokes] … the whole list of them [are] high, high, level character people, and that’s why the wheels didn’t fall off. It’s because of their character.’