Before becoming the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces in 2022, Hammon served as an assistant coach to Gregg Popovich on the San Antonio Spurs from 2014-21. With the two-time defending champion Aces trailing the New York Liberty 0-2 in the WNBA playoffs semifinal matchup, Hammon is drawing parallels between the Spurs and Liberty.
‘You think about the Spurs — I do all the time — with the Miami Heat. (The Spurs) lose an absolute heartbreaker in Miami on basic things: offensive rebounds and kick-out three,’ Hammon said, referring to the Spurs’ 95-88 loss to the Heat in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals. ‘(The Spurs) should have walked away with a title that year. They lost it that year. The next year they came back with so much drive, so much discipline, so much focus that there was no way someone was beating them in 2014.’
The New York Liberty are the Spurs in this scenario. The Aces narrowly defeated the Liberty 70-69 in Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals in New York last year to clinch the series 3-1 and win their second consecutive WNBA championship.
That was the last time the Aces defeated the Liberty. New York swept the Aces this year, winning all three of their matchups, including one in New York and two on the road in Las Vegas. And so far, the Liberty have taken a 2-0 lead on the Aces as the best-of-five semifinal series shifts to Las Vegas for Game 5 on Friday.
‘(The Spurs) took a huge loss (in 2013). The Liberty took a huge loss last year and I liken it to that a little bit,’ Hammon said. ‘(The Spurs) had it, they felt like they had it and we walked away with it. I did think we were the better team. … I’m sure they feel like something was stolen a little bit.’
Hammon added: ‘At the end of the day in two years, we’ve won (in New York) one time … Game 4. Other than that, they’ve kicked our (expletive).’
Hammon called the Liberty the best team in the league this year and said her team’s latest struggles highlight the difficulties of winning three titles in a row.
‘We haven’t had the edge all year. We found it the last month. We’ve gained a lot of ground, but the feel was different from the jump. This is why three-peating is hard,’ Hammon said. ‘The whole league hasn’t been pissed off the past eight months and my players are in commercials and freaking celebrities and you get distracted. That’s why it’s hard, because human nature’s distracting.’
The Aces will look to keep their three-peat dreams alive on Friday in Game 5.