American basketball player A’ja Wilson
Credit: © Thurman James, CSM/Alamy Images

On Sunday, September 18, the Las Vegas Aces defeated the Connecticut Sun, 78-71, to clinch the best-of-five Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals, three games to one. The Las Vegas took home their first championship in team history. Aces guard Chelsea Gray, who had 20 points and 6 assists in Game 4, was named the series MVP. Gray celebrated with league MVP A’ja Wilson and their teammates on the Sun home court at Mohegan Sun Arena, on the Mohegan Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Connecticut Sun remained without a title in four trips to the Finals.

First-year Aces Coach Becky Hammon, helped the Aces meld their exceptional individual talents into a strong championship unit. Hammon had been an assistant coach with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and a seven-time All-Star in a 16 year WNBA career.

The basketball teams met for Game 4 before a large Sun home crowd. The score was close throughout, but the steady Aces extended their two-point halftime lead into a final margin of seven. In addition to Gray’s heroics, Wilson played all 40 minutes of the game, totaling 11 points and 14 rebounds. The Sun’s Alyssa Thomas also played 40 minutes, recording a second straight triple-double in the loss. Aces Kelsey Plum scored 15, and guard Riquna Williams added 18 points to help the Aces win their first title. The Aces’ party continued on September 20, when the team held a rally with their fans on the Las Vegas Strip.

American women’s basketball star Breanna Stewart
Credit: © Zach Bolinger, Icon Sportswire/AP Photo

The Aces’ Wilson won her second MVP award. She also led the WNBA in blocked shots and was named Defensive Player of the Year. The All-WNBA Team included Wilson, her teammate Plum, the Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart, the Chicago Sky’s Candace Parker, and Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Phoenix Mercury. The Aces’ Hammon was named Coach of the Year.

Lauren Jackson shoots a free throw during the Seattle Storm 66-53 victory over the San Antonio Silverstars at Key Arena.
Credit: © Andrew Fredrickson, Southcreek Global/ZUMA Press/Alamy Images

Australia is famous for its unique culture, metropolitan cities, and unusual wildlife, among other things. Each week, this seasonal feature will spotlight one of Australia’s many wonders.

Australian basketball legend Lauren Jackson was named to the 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Jackson is one of the greatest players in the history of women’s basketball. Jackson has been an Olympian and WNBA champion. She was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.

Jackson played both the center and forward positions. She stands 6 feet 5 inches (195 centimeters) tall. Jackson won many Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in both Australia’s Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) of the United States. She led three professional teams to a number of titles and helped Australia win a world championship.

Lauren Elizabeth Jackson was born on May 11, 1981, in Albury, New South Wales. Her mother, Maree, was a superstar player for the Australian national women’s basketball team, and her father, Gary, was a skilled role player on the men’s national squad. At the age of 15, Lauren won a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). She helped lead the 1998-1999 AIS team to the WNBL title. She led the WNBL’s Canberra Capitals to the championship the following season.

In 2001, the Seattle Storm made Jackson the first pick in the WNBA draft. She played 12 seasons for the Storm, winning MVP awards in 2003, 2007, and 2010. She also won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2007. The Storm won league titles in 2004 and 2010. Jackson returned to the WNBL for several seasons, leading the Capitals to additional titles at the conclusion of the 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2005-2006, and 2009-2010 seasons. She won MVP awards in 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2004. In four appearances at the Olympic Games, starting in 2000, she led the Australian women’s team to three silver medals and one bronze medal. Jackson won a World Championship in 2006 with the Australian national team and won EuroLeague championships with the Russian squad Spartak Moscow Region in 2008 and 2009 and with the Spanish team Ros Casares Valencia in 2012. She also played seasons in China and Korea. Jackson played her last WNBA game in 2012 and retired from professional basketball in 2016.

A memoir, My Story: A Life in Basketball and Beyond, was published in 2018. In 2019, she was selected as the head of women in basketball for Basketball Australia, the country’s governing body for the sport.

Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm reaches for the ball during Game Three of the WNBA Finals against the Las Vegas Aces on Oct. 6, 2020, at Feld Entertainment Center in Palmetto, Florida.
Credit: © Stephen Gosling, NBAE/Getty Images

On Tuesday, October 6, the Seattle Storm defeated the Las Vegas Aces 92-59 to win the 2020 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Championship in a three-game sweep. Seattle’s win was the largest margin of victory in finals history. It is Seattle’s second title in three seasons. With the win, Seattle tied the Houston Comets and Minnesota Lynx for the league’s most championship wins.

The celebration looked different than in years past. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic (global outbreak of disease), teams have been in a bubble—nicknamed the “Wubble,” for the WNBA bubble—at IMG Academy sports training complex in Bradenton, Florida, since July. The victors could not celebrate with friends, family, or fans, but they certainly will when they return to Seattle. Before that, however, the players settled for a celebration of making confetti angels on the court.

The legends Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart play for the Seattle Storm. Since Bird joined the team in 2000, she has been part of all four Storm titles. In addition to 2020, the Storm won in 2004, 2010, and 2018. Stewart joined the Storm in 2016, earning Rookie of the Year that same year. She was named the WNBA Most Valuable Player for the 2018 season. Both Bird and Stewart missed the 2019 WNBA season while recovering from injury.

Other key Storm players include Jordin Canada, Alysha Clark, Natasha Howard, and Jewell Lloyd. Alysha Clark, in particular, spoke about the league’s mission to bring attention to Breonna Taylor, as well as Black women and girls in general. In March, Taylor, a Black woman, was shot and killed by police officers executing a botched search. WNBA players put Taylor’s name on the back of their jerseys and raised awareness about social justice issues. After the win, Clark said, “It’s a championship for little Black girls and Black women across the country, honestly. I said it after the game, when I was letting it all soak in: ‘I hope each and every one of them feels just as victorious in this moment as I do, because you should. We see you, we hear you. We acknowledge you, and your life matters.’”