Las Vegas Aces (WNBA)

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Las Vegas Aces
founding 1996
history Utah Starzz
1997 - 2002
San Antonio Silver Stars
2003 - 2013
San Antonio Stars
2014 - 2017
Las Vegas Aces
from 2018
Stadion Mandalay Bay Events Center from 2018
Location Paradise , Nevada
league WNBA
Conference Western Conference
Head coach Bill Laimbeer
Championships no
Conference title 2008

The Las Vegas Aces are an American women's basketball team of the Women's National Basketball Association based in Paradise , Nevada . The team was originally based in Utah and played in San Antonio from 2003 to 2017.

history

Started in Utah (1997 to 2002)

By 2002 the team was based in Salt Lake City , Utah under the name Utah Starzz , which like all other teams in the league were owned by the NBA . When in 2002 the NBA decided to sell all the teams to the same city-based NBA teams or to third parties, no one was interested in the franchise .

Time in San Antonio (2003 to 2017)

In contrast to other teams, which had to be dissolved due to a lack of interest, the franchise was sold to the owners of the San Antonio Spurs and relocated to San Antonio , where the Starzz became the Silver Stars. Biggest success in San Antonio was reaching the WNBA Finals in 2008 . From the 2014 season, the team played under the name Stars. After the 2017 season , the franchise was sold to Las Vegas.

Move to Las Vegas (from 2018)

Before the 2018 season , the team was relocated to Las Vegas, where they play as Las Vegas Aces. In the first season after the move, the number of wins could be increased significantly, but the playoffs were just missed as the ninth-best team in the league. In the second season in Nevada, the team was able to reach the playoffs for the first time. As the fourth best team in the WNBA in the 2019 season , it had a bye in the 1st round and the Chicago Sky team was beaten in the 2nd round . The first playoff participation ended in the WNBA semifinals against the eventual champions of the Washington Mystics .

Venue

The Evo 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center
season Audience
cut
WNBA
audience average
2018 5,307 6,769
2019 4,669 6,535

The Las Vegas Aces have played their home games at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise , Nevada since they moved .

Audience numbers

In the season after the move, the team was only able to attract a few spectators and was thus both below the league average and below the audience participation in the last season in San Antonio. Despite the first playoff participation, the audience numbers then fell in 2019.

Achievements and honors

Sporting successes

After only one playoff series could be won in Utah, the San Antonio Silver Stars reached at least the WNBA finals in 2008 . That season the team was also the best in the Western Conference. The Aces reached the playoffs for the first time in their second season in Nevada and made it into the round of the last four.

Individual awards

In each of the first two seasons in Las Vegas, one award went to a player on the team.

Rookie of the Year : The Aces had the number 1 draft pick before their first season in Nevada and A'ja Wilson confirmed the expectations placed on them and won the award of the best league newcomer.

Sixth Woman of the Year : In the second season in Las Vegas, Dearica Hamby was the best complementary player.

Season overview

Abbreviations: Sp. = Games, S = victories, N = defeats

season Sp. S. N Wins in% space Playoffs
Utah Starzz
1997 28 7th 21st 25.0 4th, Western Conference not qualified
1998 30th 8th 22nd 26.7 5th, Western Conference not qualified
1999 32 15th 17th 46.9 6th, Western Conference not qualified
2000 32 18th 14th 56.3 5th, Western Conference not qualified
2001 32 19th 13 59.4 4th, Western Conference Conference semifinals lost, 2-0 ( Sacramento Monarchs )
2002 32 20th 12 62.5 3rd, Western Conference Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-1 ( Houston Comets ),
Loss in the Conference Finals, 0-2 ( Los Angeles Sparks )
Total
Starzz
186 87 99 46.8 2 playoff appearances in 6 seasons
3 series: 1 win, 2 losses
7 games: 2 wins, 5 losses (28.6%)
San Antonio Silver Stars
2003 34 12 22nd 35.3 6th, Western Conference not qualified
2004 34 9 25th 26.5 7th, Western Conference not qualified
2005 34 7th 27 20.6 7th, Western Conference not qualified
2006 34 13 21st 38.2 6th, Western Conference not qualified
2007 34 20th 14th 58.8 2nd, Western Conference Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-1 ( Sacramento Monarchs ),
loss in the Conference Finals, 0-2 ( Phoenix Mercury )
2008 34 24 10 70.6 1st, Western Conference Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-1 ( Sacramento Monarchs )
victory in the Conference Finals, 2-1 ( Los Angeles Sparks )
defeat in the WNBA Finals, 0-3 ( Detroit Shock )
2009 34 15th 19th 44.1 4th, Western Conference Conference semifinals lost, 2-1 ( Phoenix Mercury )
2010 34 14th 20th 41.2 3rd, Western Conference Conference semifinals lost, 2-0 ( Phoenix Mercury )
2011 34 18th 16 52.9 4th, Western Conference Conference semifinals lost, 2-1 ( Minnesota Lynx )
2012 34 21st 13 61.8 3rd, Western Conference Conference semifinals lost, 2-0 ( Los Angeles Sparks )
2013 34 12 22nd 35.3 5th, Western Conference not qualified
Sum of
Silver Stars
374 165 209 44.1 6 playoff appearances in 11 seasons
9 series: 3 wins, 6 losses
24 games: 8 wins, 16 losses (33.3%)
San Antonio Stars
2014 34 16 18th 47.1 3rd, Western Conference Conference semifinals lost, 2-0 ( Minnesota Lynx )
2015 34 6th 28 17.6 6th, Western Conference not qualified
2016 34 7th 27 20.6 6th, Western Conference not qualified
2017 34 8th 26th 23.5 6th, Western Conference not qualified
Sum of
stars
136 37 99 27.2 1 playoff participation in 4 seasons
1 series: 0 wins, 1 loss
2 games: 0 wins, 2 losses (0.0%)
Las Vegas Aces
2018 34 14th 20th 41.2 5th, Western Conference not qualified
2019 34 21st 13 61.8 2nd, Western Conference Victory in the 2nd round, 1-0 ( Chicago Sky )
defeat in the WNBA semifinals, 1-3 ( Washington Mystics )
Total
Las Vegas Aces
68 35 33 41.5 1 playoff participation in 2 seasons
2 series: 1 win, 1 loss
5 games: 2 wins, 3 losses (40.0%)
total
sum
764 324 440 42.4 10 playoff appearances in 23 seasons
15 series: 5 wins, 10 losses
38 games: 12 wins, 26 losses (31.6%)

Players

2017 season squad of the San Antonio Stars before the move

As of September 11, 2017

No. country Surname position Date of birth Experience
in WNBA
college
4th United StatesUnited States Moriah Jefferson Guard 03/08/1994 1 season University of Connecticut
5 United StatesUnited States Dearica Hamby Forward 11/06/1993 2 seasons Wake Forest University
6th United StatesUnited States Alex Montgomery Guard-Forward 11/12/1988 6 seasons Georgia Tech
7th United StatesUnited States Shay Murphy Guard April 15, 1985 8 seasons University of Southern California
10 United StatesUnited States Kelsey Plum Guard 08/24/1994 Rookie University of Washington
11 United StatesUnited States Cierra Burdick Forward 09/30/1993 2 seasons University of Tennessee
12 United StatesUnited States Nia Coffey Forward 06/11/1995 Rookie Northwestern University
17th United StatesUnited States Sequoia Holmes Guard 06/13/1986 2 seasons University of Nevada, Las Vegas
20th United StatesUnited States Isabelle Harrison center 09/27/1993 1 season University of Tennessee
21st United StatesUnited States Kayla McBride Guard 06/25/1992 3 seasons University of Notre Dame
40 CanadaCanada Kayla Alexander center 01/05/1991 4 seasons Syracuse University
51 United StatesUnited States Sydney Colson Guard 08/06/1989 3 seasons Texas A&M University

First-round voting rights in the WNBA Draft

Surname year Draft position
A'ja Wilson 2018 01.
Jackie Young 2019 01.

In the previous two seasons after moving from Texas to Nevada prior to the 2018 season , the Aces team had two draft rights in the first round of the WNBA draft . The franchise had a draft pick in the first round. In both drafts, the aces had the first pick. With A'ja Wilson, who was selected in the WNBA Draft 2018 , an Aces player has so far received the award as the best newcomer of the year .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ All-Time WNBA Draft Picks. WNBA, accessed May 5, 2020 .