Reigning WNBA Champs Got Demolished 99-66 and Becky Hammon Isn't Hiding the Problem

The Las Vegas Aces looked absolutely lost in their 2026 opener, and their coach made it crystal clear what went wrong. After getting walloped by Phoenix 99-66 on Saturday, Becky Hammon didn't sugarcoat anything. "The defense, it looks like we haven't worked on it," she said. "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."

Yeah. That's brutal honesty from a championship coach, and it tells you everything about how bad things got in that opener. The Aces are 0-1 after giving up massive runs in the second and third quarters. Phoenix torched them from three, hitting 11 of 24 from deep, while Las Vegas looked completely unprepared on the defensive end. Last season, the Aces held opponents to just 31.6% from three. Saturday? They looked like they'd never seen a defense practiced.

Even four-time MVP A'ja Wilson couldn't carry the load by herself. Wilson finished with 19 points, and Jackie Young added 12, but there was zero offensive consistency around them. When your best player can't get going and your defense is nonexistent, you get a 33-point loss to start the year. Not ideal when you're the defending champs.

The Sparks Are Looking Different This Year

Now the Aces head to Los Angeles to face the Sparks, who are tipping off their season Sunday. On paper, this looks like a matchup Las Vegas should handle easily. The Sparks allowed 88.2 points per game last season and gave up a league-worst 10.1 three-pointers a night. Easy pickings, right?

Not so fast. Los Angeles added some serious talent this offseason. Veteran forward Nneka Ogwumike, a 2016 MVP, signed on after averaging 18.3 points and seven rebounds with Seattle last year. Then there's Dearica Hamby, another former Aces player now in a Sparks uniform, who put up 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in 2025. Cameron Brink, the No. 2 overall pick in 2024, rounds out that frontcourt, though injuries have limited her to just 34 combined games over her first two seasons.

Kelsey Plum, who won titles with Las Vegas in 2022 and 2023 before joining LA last year, sees exactly what the Sparks are building. "When Nneka signed this year, I was like, 'OK, I'm not crazy. They're seeing the vision I am seeing,'" Plum told the LA Times.

The Aces need to fix their defensive issues fast. This Sunday trip to LA is their chance to show they're ready to defend their crown.

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