The Aces weren’t hurting for a competitive advantage as they beat the New York Liberty 95-81 to avoid elimination in Game 3 of their WNBA semifinal series Friday at Michelob Ultra Arena. Before the victory, Aces coach Becky Hammon apologized to her team for comments she made after an 88-84 loss to the Liberty in Game 2 on Tuesday, in which she said the Aces lacked edge and were distracted by the perks of being back-to-back champions. Hammon, surrounded by reporters at shootaround on Friday, was so eager to address Tuesday’s postgame interview that she interrupted a question that referenced it.
“I would like to address that,” Hammon said, “I apologized to the team. (Distracted) was a poorly used word, because, truth be told, I want them in every commercial. I want their faces everywhere.
I want them to get paid in every possible way, and winning does that. The point I was trying to make is that the Liberty’s mentality in their offseason looked and felt much different than ours.” Much has been said about the Aces’ edge since they beat the Liberty in the 2023 Finals.
For Hammon, it ranged from the early assertion that she didn’t like the Aces’ “vibe” when training camp began, to the most recent comments Tuesday — in which she did note that the Aces found an edge as the postseason approached but seemingly lost it when the semifinals started. With the Aces looking to defy history and become the first WNBA team to come back from a 2-0 series deficit , ther.
