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Women's Basketball: Las Vegas Aces win historic title

2022-09-19T05:56:41.582Z


Las Vegas has never had the privilege of celebrating winning a major US sports league. Until now: In the finals of the WNBA, the Aces secured the championship. Also thanks to a courageous decision by her trainer.


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"We were resilient": A'ja Wilson holds the trophy, her teammates cheer

Photo:

Jessica Hill/AP

The Las Vegas Aces won their first WNBA title.

In the fourth game of the final series against the Connecticut Sun, the team on Sunday evening (local time) got a 78:71 and the necessary third victory for the championship in the best basketball women's league in the world.

The Aces are the first Las Vegas team to win a title in a major US professional league.

In the tight game with seven lead changes, the guests worked out a small cushion in the last minute, which was enough for the greatest success in the history of the Aces.

Chelsea Gray was the top scorer with her 20 points in the win and was honored as the Most Valuable Player of the Finals series.

"That's great.

We've been resilient," said star player A'Ja Wilson.

The final series decided the team with 3:1.

First title for Becky Hammon

A risky move paid off for Aces coach Becky Hammon, who failed to win a title in her stellar WNBA career.

Hammon was previously an assistant coach in the NBA men's league and has long been considered a head coaching candidate.

Nevertheless, she left the NBA and the post alongside Spurs coach Gregg Popovich before the season, at least temporarily, in order to be able to coach the women's team in Las Vegas.

Now she has been rewarded with the title.

"They're incredible on the field, but most of all they're incredible people," Hammon said of her team after the game.

'They take care of each other.

They invest in each other.

It was a great honor for me to be their coach.

I saw outstanding performances and wanted to be a part of them.«

During the night, former US President and self-confessed basketball fan Barack Obama also congratulated the new champion.

The season was overshadowed for a long time by the imprisonment of star player Brittney Griner in Russia.

She was unable to play for the title with her Phoenix Mercury after she was arrested in Russia in February and has since been convicted of drug possession and smuggling.

The US government considers both the arrest and the amount of the sentence to be unlawful.

Many players showed solidarity.

There were repeated campaigns throughout the season to draw attention to Griner's situation.

kjo/dpa/AP

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2022-09-19

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