Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10) moves the ball against New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) and New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich (13) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Las Vegas.
Friday, Aug. 16, 2024 | 2 a.m.
With the Olympic Games in Paris behind them, six Las Vegas Aces players have rejoined the team to get back into the thick of the WNBA season.
A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young helped the United States win a gold medal, while Megan Gustafson competed for Spain and Tiffany Hayes played for Azerbaijan’s 3-on-3 team.
Still jet-lagged, the six Olympians, along with the rest of their teammates, practiced for the first time in over a month Thursday, prepping for home games against New York (Saturday) and Los Angeles (Sunday), both at Michelob Ultra Arena.
“We know we have to lock in,” Young said. “We know that there’s still work to be done here. As professionals, we know we must flip that switch, even though it is a short amount of time.”
“Just knowing that we have New York coming up, you have to flip that switch, no matter the amount of time.”
The Aces will be playing against Olympic teammates Brianna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu on Saturday.
“With all that said and done, kick up to the curb, and now it’s time to play against them,” Wilson said. “It’s always mutual respect between us, and I think that’s the beautiful thing about our league. We can flip that switch in those moments, but we all know what we want to go after now.”
There’s also an urgency to “get back after it,” she said, referring to the Aces stumbling into the Olympic break with a 93-85 loss to the Chicago Sky on July 16.
The game Sunday against the Sparks brings former Aces player Dearica Hamby back to Las Vegas.
Coincidentally, Hamby this week filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Aces and the league, alleging she was traded in 2023 by Las Vegas because she was pregnant and that the WNBA failed to punish the team accordingly.
Hammon served a two-game suspension last season over Hamby’s allegations, and the Aces were forced to surrender their 2025 first-round draft pick because of a WNBA investigation into the complaint.
Fatigue could be a factor for the Olympians, who were just getting back into town earlier in the week.
Wilson played heavy minutes at the Olympics and started every game alongside Gray. Young was one of the first players off the bench and was a starter in the knockout rounds.
Gustafson was also a key player in Spain’s run to the quarterfinal round. With two days of rest at the most, these players are quickly getting back to work with little time to reset.
“You try to keep your body awake and try to adjust as quickly as possible because you have to,” Gray said. “We have games at certain times, and so you just have to get back into that kind of routine.”