When WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the league’s new playoff structure during the 2024-25 season, she presented it as a clear step forward. “This will give our fans a championship series format that they are accustomed to seeing in other sports,” she said confidently. While many initially praised the move for enhancing visibility and fairness, the format’s debut this postseason has sparked a debate, and Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon is leading the charge against it.
What Did Becky Hammon Say About the New First-Round Playoff Format?
Before the Aces faced the Seattle Storm for Game 1 of the first round, Hammon voiced her sharp frustrations with the newly introduced 1-1-1 series format. “I don’t like it,” she stated bluntly during a pregame interview, per Nekias Duncan. “You look at a team like Phoenix, dropping that one, they’re gonna have all the pressure. I mean, unbelievably tough to now have to fly to New York. And New York has a tough one, flying to Phoenix, back to New York, potentially back to Phoenix.”
Pregame goods from me:
1) Becky Hammon’s thoughts on the 1-1-1 playoff format
2) Noelle Quinn on trying to counter teams stashing bigger wings on Skylar Diggins (0:47 mark) pic.twitter.com/5iaGJdXP47
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) September 15, 2025
The new structure gives the higher seed Game 1 at home before the series shifts to the lower seed’s arena for Game 2. If a decisive Game 3 is needed, the series returns to the higher seed’s home court. On paper, this guarantees every playoff team at least one home game, a feature notably missing from the previous format.
Hammon pointed to a glaring example from 2024 that likely prompted the change. The Indiana Fever, riding an unprecedented wave of national attention thanks to then-rookie sensation Caitlin Clark, never got to host a playoff game. For a team that generated historic buzz and fan turnout, the lack of a home playoff game felt like a massive missed opportunity for the league. While the new format corrects that issue, Hammon argues it comes at too high a cost. “I think this conversation came up last year, when Indiana didn’t get a game, and they were upset,” Hammon added. “But for me, people just gotta get, you gotta finish better.”
MORE: Aces Head Coach Becky Hammon Drops Major Update on A’ja Wilson’s Wrist Injury
According to Hammon, that cost is the heavy toll placed on players who must crisscross the country for such a short series. With a maximum of three games, the travel can become excessive, especially for teams on opposite coasts.
Instead of focusing on recovery and game planning, players are forced to deal with long flights and disrupted schedules. Hammon did not just criticize the format, she also offered a solution. “Either move it to five or it stays in the 2-1 format, because it puts the higher seed at actually a huge disadvantage,” she suggested.
Her pointed comments came just before her team delivered a dominant performance in front of their home crowd. On September 14, the Aces stormed past Seattle 102-77 in Game 1. A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young led the charge, with Wilson scoring 29 points and Young adding 18 points.
A’JA WILSON TONIGHT 🔥
• 29 POINTS
• 7 REBOUNDS
• 3 STEALS
• 2 BLOCKS
• 10/18 FG
• 30 MINUTES PLAYEDpic.twitter.com/ZtyxSd830q
— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) September 15, 2025
The Aces wasted no time asserting their control. They jumped out to a 10-point lead after the first quarter and ballooned it to 20 by halftime. Las Vegas never looked back from there. In the fourth quarter, the lead stretched to as many as 32 points, a deficit the Storm could not overcome.
One dub down! ✅
Presented by @RAHLawFirm // #RaiseTheStakes pic.twitter.com/gZ7spTpK1v
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) September 15, 2025
Now, the Aces will hit the road for Game 2 on September 16 at Climate Pledge Arena, where the Storm will fight to even the series and keep their season alive.
