Becky Hammon prioritized her players’ fitness amid a brutal WNBA schedule. The Las Vegas Aces head coach benched her core trio in a lopsided loss to the New York Liberty on Sunday.
A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young watched on as the Liberty defeated Las Vegas 111-71 at Barclays Center. The 40-point defeat capped off a grueling weekend gauntlet that saw the Aces fall to the Minnesota Lynx 98-87 less than 24 hours prior.
Aces HC Becky Hammon Gets Blunt on Grueling WNBA Schedule
The league’s calendar regularly forces difficult travel arrangements, and the Aces head coach did not mince words on the intense scheduling during the pregame media availability. This was actually the Aces’ third game in 65 hours, having also faced the Fever on Thursday.
“Everybody has a brutal schedule at some point,” Hammon said before Sunday’s game. “I don’t even think they do this in the NBA though, where it’s less than 24 hours. You can check, and I’m pretty sure that’s not even legal on the NBA side. You’d have to look it up, but I don’t recall.”
The WNBA still seems to be grappling with scheduling, particularly when international tournaments squeeze the timeline.
With a 22-11 record, the Aces have the luxury of load management, even if it means absorbing a heavy defeat.
“With the time change, it ends up being that,” Hammon continued. “But we’re going to always err on the side of health and safety for our players. Not going to put them in any kind of jeopardy to get hurt…”
Without their franchise pillars, Las Vegas offered little resistance as Breanna Stewart put up 14 points and Jonquel Jones recorded 15. The standout for Liberty was Marine Johannes, who came off the bench to record 27 points in 22 minutes.
Hammon defended her decision firmly after the blowout loss, viewing the back-to-back defeats as a necessary sacrifice.
“The health and safety of players comes first,” Hammon stated. “Wherever we end up, we end up, and we’ll play whatever hand is dealt to us. To me, this was a just a bigger picture type of scenario, so you take the ‘L,’ understanding that it pays dividends on the back end.”
The 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup tips off on September 4 in Berlin, Germany. With Wilson, Gray, and Young part of the USA roster, their late-summer workload has forced the Aces franchise into careful load management in the late stretch of the regular season.
The Aces are betting that fresh legs in September will matter more. After a few days of rest, they will head back to Nevada on Tuesday night to host the Washington Mystics.
