“Aces vs Everybody.” The Las Vegas Aces started this season with an intent to go for their third consecutive championship title. However, as the season progressed, the Aces failed to live up to the hype and ended the regular season 27-13. In fact, three of these losses were to the 2023 Finalists: the New York Liberty. Thus, when the ‘Sin City’ franchise is set to clash against the Liberty in a best-of-5 series during the 2024 WNBA semifinals, a lot many people are sure that the the latter would upend them. However, swimming against the tides, the EPSN journalist Stephen A. Smith supports the Aces and feels that they will win the series, advancing to the Finals.

On Thursday’s ESPN ‘First Take’, Smith gave his reasons for supporting the Aces, forcing the fans to think from a new perspective. “Well one would think it’s the Liberty. I would say no. You’re talking about the Aces being a reigning defending WNBA Champions two times WNBA Champions going for a three-peat. Having the best player on the planet in A’ja Wilson that’s one thing. But number two you see the pride and the fervor with which they played, they were struggling in the first half of the season. They came on strong in the second half of the season. The Liberty had faced them three times, beat them three times since losing to them in the WNBA Finals, okay? Which I had the pleasure of attending…,” Smith stated.

The Aces had a slow start to the season, meeting their last year’s total losses in just the first 12 matchups this season. However, going ahead from there, the squad improved with A’ja Wilson becoming their primary two-way star. After the Olympics break especially, the Aces showed their mettle, winning 11 games vs 5 losses. In the playoffs on Tuesday, the fourth-seeded team swept the Seattle Storm, emerging victorious in Round 1. A lot of credit for this season’s exploits goes to the U’nanimous MVP: A’ja Wilson.

“I’m looking at all of this and I find myself saying it’s one of those things where I think it is a mistake that you beat them all three times you faced them. Because that was the regular season, this is a different animal. These are the champions… A’ja Wilson and the Plum and the crew and Gray.. They going to be ready…. I’m rooting for the Liberty because I am a New Yorker and I root all things New York all the time, but I will tell you that in my heart I’m like you got to show you can take A’ja Wilson down for them to believe it… She’s fading, she’s in her prime, she seems to be elevating her level of play as the wanes. I look at the Aces to win the series,” Smith concluded.

Wilson began this season with a purpose to avenge herself of the MVP snub last year. Therefore, she raised both her defensive and offensive skills, becoming the first player to inch past the 1000-point mark in a single season. The South Carolina-born became the first star to lead the league in all three main categories of rebounds, points, and blocks. Therefore Smith, who was born in the Bronx in New York and raised in the Hollis section of the Queens, pledged his allegiance to Vegas over his home city’s franchise.

Meanwhile, the 3x MVP was recently applauded by Sue Bird which proves that it’s not only Smith who thinks that Wilson might be a threat to the Liberty’s dreams.

Sue Bird labels A’ja Wilson as the GOAT

While Wilson set the tone clear for hoping for the MVP and the three-peat, the Liberty would want to avenge themselves off last year’s Championship Finals series defeat, and the Dawn Staley mentee might play spoilsport to their plans in the best of 5 series beginning Sunday. Taking cognizance of Wilson’s on-song performances this season, Sue Bird in her latest episode of ‘A Touch More’ opined that Wilson deserved to be included in the GOAT debate.

“It’s just to me a word. I don’t get caught up in it. But if you are talking about building a resume that will exist among the greatest of all time, legit legit, and one day it could be the talking heads debating between this player or that player, A’ja will 1000% be in those conversations,” Bird stated. It is important to mention that while the 5x Olympic gold medalist is usually present on the New York sidelines, the aspect of greatness acknowledging greatness is quite visible in her words.

Wilson has become only the fourth place in W history to win 3 MVPs apart from Sheryl Swoopes, Lauren Jackson, and Lisa Leslie. Apart from the accolades earned this season, Wilson is the all-time leader in 40-point games along with being the single-game leader in points with 53 points. And hopefully, when she takes the court against the Liberty on Sunday she will give a tough challenge to the first-seeded team.