Mercury guard, Kaleah Copper, cuts to the hoop through two Vegas defenders.

Newly acquired shooting guard, Anfernee Simons, scored 21 points in his preseason debut for the Celtics.

The Las Vegas Aces once again hold the title of “Queens of the WNBA” following their four-game sweep of the Phoenix Mercury in this year’s Championship Finals.

In the process, the name of A’ja Wilson has been elevated to the lofty status of “MEGASTAR” after her record-setting performance in the finals. Wilson, the first player in the history of “The W” to win the regular season Most Valuable Player Award four times, added a third Playoff MVP honor to her certain Hall of Fame resume. The regular season MVP honor was bestowed upon her after she led her team back from a 4-4 start, including a 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx, the second-worst defeat in league history, to a 16-game win streak and the number two seed heading into the league playoffs.

A concussion sidelined Wilson for weeks, the primary reason for her team’s slow start. In the meantime, the Minnesota Lynx, still smarting over a finals loss to the New York Liberty, stormed off to the top regular-season record in the league. By the time Wilson returned to the court, the Lynx were too far ahead to catch and overtake for the top record and number one seed in the playoffs.

A’ja Wilson: “My injury took me away from my team. It was a very difficult time for me to see them struggle and lose games. But I had to get right before returning to play. During my recovery, I saw my teammates started to come together as a unit. And by the time I returned, we found our chemistry. It took a lot of soul-searching, as well as some tough-love coaching from Becky Hammon, to get us on track and push us to be the best that we could be. When things came together and we went on our winning streak, the team found that ‘trust-factor’ that translated to our play on the court.

“We are a different team from the one that won back-to-back WNBA titles in 2022 and 2023, with new players that had to learn ‘what it was’ to be a member of this Las Vegas Aces franchise. It took time, but in the end, we got it right. And now we are back at the top as WNBA Champions. It’s an amazing, true story. And I am so proud to be a part of it.”

The team’s journey through the playoffs was their championship coronation, with a new cast of players blending in with A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, the core members of the back-to-back WNBA title teams.

The championship final series was decided in Game 1 of the best-of-7 affair, the first best-of-7 Championship series in WNBA history. Wilson had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, with Dana Evans (21 points on 5.3 point shots) and Jewell Lloyd (18 points) supplying bench scoring, and had just enough to hold off the Mercury 89-86. With just 24.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter and her team trailing by one point, Mercury star Allyssa Thomas (15 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists) went to the free-throw line for two foul shots that could have given her team a one-point lead. She missed both, and her team lost the critical game, one that would have given them a chance to take homecourt advantage in the series.

The Home team Aces were dominant in Game 2. Wilson scored 20 of her 28 points (along with 14 total rebounds for the game) in the first half. Jackie Young set a WNBA Finals record, scoring 21 of her game-high 32 points in the third quarter. Chelsey Gray’s near triple-double performance (10 points, one rebound, eight assists) was an instrumental factor as she played the role of chief facilitator, leading her team to a 91-78 triumph and a twogames-to-none lead in the series.

Kaleah Copper (23 points) and Satou Sabally (22 points, 9 rebounds) led the Mercury.

The scene shifted to Phoenix for Game 3. And it was the A’ja Wilson Show from start to finish. She was magnificent and thoroughly dominant, scoring 34 points, pulling down 14 rebounds, dishing out four assists, and blocking three shots to push her team to a double-digit lead. But the Mercury refused to set without a major fight.

Dewanna Bonner, with 25 points, led a furious Phoenix comeback and hit a critical three-point shot to tie the game at 88. Enter A’ja, who hit the game-winning shot with .03 left in regulation time. Bonner missed a last-ditch shot attempt as the final buzzer sounded: Aces 90, Mercury 88.

The Aces closed this year’s WNBA Championship Final Series in grand style with a 97-86 victory. Wilson led the way with her 10th/30-point game of the playoffs to offset a 30-point effort by Kaleah Copper (who fouled out with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter. She would receive a technical foul upon leaving the court, one of multiple techs called on the Mercury, including a double technical ejection of head coach Nate Tibbetts.

All that remained was the Championship celebration led by Finals MVP A’ja Wilson, a WNBA Finals record 114 points scored, her teammates and coach Becky Hammon. Hammon: “The ‘care-factor’ was the key component to this title run, says the woman who became the second coach in league history, behind Van Chancellor (1997-2000 of the Houston Comets), to win three WNBA titles in four years. Her team has closed with a 25-3 record since Aug. 3, when their record was 14-14. Wilson: “I have never had a season like this, but this is not about me. It is about my team and what ‘We’ accomplished.

Celtics season begins

With the end of the WNBA season, the Boston Celtics and the rest of the National Basketball Association prepare for the upcoming 2025 regular season.

The central question surrounding the Celtics centers on the rehabilitation of all-star forward Jason Tatum. Reports from Tatum himself have surfaced, many dealing with his “aggressive approach” to return as soon as possible from his torn Achilles tendon. Like every other athlete who has suffered such a debilitating injury, Tatum is “pushing” himself to get back on the court as soon as possible. Video of his workouts has surfaced, leading many people to believe that he will return to play before the expected time of nine months to one year from the date of his injury in Game 6 of last year’s NBA Eastern Conference Semi-Final series against the New York Knicks.

Readers should be aware that Jaylen Brown, the Celtics’ other all-star player, played with a badly damaged knee that required off-season surgery to repair. Brown has returned to the court following his surgery, while Tatum continues to push his rehab. As the team has entered its exhibition schedule, there are new faces to replace Al Horford, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, the “core players” from the 2023 NBA Championship team. The “Economics of NBA Payroll,” including the Luxury Tax, is at the center of their departures, with the recovery of Tatum and Brown sharing the headline.

One had to expect changes following the team’s playoff loss to the Knicks. Horford, who recently signed a two-year deal with the Golden State Warriors, will be missed, as will Holiday, who, like former Celtic Malcolm Brogdon, played hard and through injury for this team. Their wisdom and “team-first” philosophy will be hard to replace. Combo-guard Anfernee Simon (acquired from the Portland Trailblazers for Holiday) is expected to fill the roster spot vacated by Holiday.

New Celtics owner Bill Chisholm finds himself with a team that will have to play above expectations to compete against the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers for supremacy in the NBA Eastern Conference. With a keen eye focused on Jayson Tatum’s rehab, many Celtics fans look at the upcoming NBA season as a rebuilding year for the franchise. The Banner will also keep a close eye on the play of Jaylen Brown, who will now have to be “The Man” to lead this team this NBA season.