Defending WNBA Champs Got Obliterated 99-66 and Their Coach Isn't Sugarcoating It

The Las Vegas Aces are reigning WNBA champions. They won it all last year. So how did they start 2026? By getting absolutely demolished by the Phoenix Mercury, 99-66, in their season opener on Saturday. Yeah, that's a 33-point loss. Their coach Becky Hammon was not happy about it.

"I don't think we're in good enough shape to play at the level that we need to," Hammon said after the rout. "The defense, it looks like we haven't worked on it. We've been doing it an hour-and-a-half every day in practice. The little details that we talk about that are separation factors, we're not doing them. And until we decide we want to do them, we'll continue to get our butt kicked like this."

Defense Fell Apart From the Jump

Here's what made Saturday's loss so ugly: the Aces gave up massive runs in the second and third quarters. Phoenix hit 11-of-24 from three. That's 45.8% from deep. Last season, Las Vegas had one of the WNBA's best perimeter defenses, holding opponents to just 31.6% from three. This? This is not that.

On the offensive side, things weren't much better. A'ja Wilson, the four-time league MVP, finished with just 19 points. Jackie Young added 12. For a defending champ, that's not going to cut it.

Sparks Are a Different Beast This Year

Now the Aces have to turn around and face the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday. The Sparks had the WNBA's worst defense last season, allowing 88.2 points per game and a league-worst 10.1 three-pointers a night. But Los Angeles is not the same team that limped through 2025.

They added veteran forward Nneka Ogwumike, the 2016 MVP, who averaged 18.3 points and seven rebounds per game last season with the Seattle Storm. They also have Dearica Hamby, another former Aces player, who put up 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds in 2025. The frontcourt also includes Cameron Brink, the No. 2 overall pick in 2024 and a promising defensive presence, though injuries have limited her floor time so far. Brink has appeared in 34 games combined over her first two WNBA seasons, averaging 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds.

Kelsey Plum, who won championships with Las Vegas in 2022 and 2023 before joining the Sparks last year, told the Los Angeles Times that Ogwumike's arrival changed everything. "I don't think that last year I realized how big of a decision I made," Plum said. "When Nneka signed this year, I was like, 'OK, I'm not crazy. They're seeing the vision I am seeing.'"

The Aces need to figure out their defense fast. If they don't, Sunday is going to be another long night.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.