Kelsey Plum dribbled the shot clock dry, then drove to the hoop, the simplest basketball act fueled by the purest of basketball motives. Last summer, the Aces retired Becky Hammon’s No. 25, and Hammon said last week, “I worked with Plum on her finishing.” Hammon was a Spurs assistant then. She says coaching the Aces “didn’t even cross my mind.” She helped Plum because it’s what coaches do. Now Plum took rock to rim; finished; did a half-pose, half-strut at center court; and returned to the bench, where Hammon and a championship were 25 seconds away.
The Aces and Sun bounced from one casino arena to another for a week, but by the end of the WNBA Finals, they both knew luck had nothing to do with this. The Aces have more high-end talent than any team in the league. They are expertly coached. They play hard and unselfishly. When time expired on their 78–71 series-clinching Game 4 win and star A’ja Wilson spiked the basketball, they were the most deserving champions.
Dynamic point guard Chelsea Gray earned Finals MVP honors for a performance that was both unconscious (she drained so many contested shots that Sun coach Curt Miller joked they should just leave her open) and extremely conscious (nobody makes savvier decisions with the ball). Sub Riquna Williams nailed three long, unflinching it’s-my-turn-now jumpers in the series’ final 121 seconds. Plum and Jackie Young showed why they would be the best players on some teams.
