Becky Hammon had little interest in comparing the Indiana Fever to the Las Vegas Aces team she inherited before building a three-time WNBA champion.
Las Vegas eliminated Caitlin Clark and Indiana with a 94-83 victory Thursday in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series. A reporter asked Hammon whether she saw parallels between the Fever and the Aces when she took over in 2022.
“No,” Hammon said bluntly, with A’ja Wilson laughing next to her.
When the reporter tried to clarify the question, citing the high draft picks both franchises accumulated and both teams’ potential, Hammon remained dismissive.
“You didn’t ask me about their potential,” Hammon said.
The reporter explained that the question was whether Hammon saw similar potential in Indiana’s current core, which is built around Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell. After more back-and-forth, with Hammon citing the presence of Kelsey Plum in Las Vegas, she ended the comparison while praising Indiana.
“Yeah, I mean listen, let’s just move on,” Hammon said. “Let’s move on. I think that team has great potential, though, to answer your question. But it’s different, right?”
The truth is Hammon transformed an already talented Las Vegas roster into a championship team, something the Fever has yet to achieve.
Las Vegas had three consecutive No. 1 overall picks from 2017 through 2019 in Kelsey Plum, Wilson and Jackie Young. Hammon arrived before the 2022 season and led Las Vegas to its first championship.
Candice Ward-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
The Aces have since won three titles in four seasons. Indiana, meanwhile, drafted Boston and Clark first overall in consecutive drafts and reached the playoffs in each of Clark’s first two seasons, but Las Vegas eliminated the Fever in the opening round both times.
On Thursday’s win-and-in game, Wilson scored 36 points with 10 rebounds while Clark finished with 18 points, four assists and six turnovers.
Las Vegas will next face the winner of Friday’s Game 3 between the Golden State Valkyries and Dallas Wings in the WNBA semifinals, beginning Sunday.
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