Already down 3-0, the Phoenix Mercury were expected to come out red-hot for Game 4. And they did, but A’ja Wilson and Co. didn’t let them take a win away. With a dominant performance, the Aces defeated the Mercury 97-86 and cemented their status as the league’s reigning dynasty. But do you know what’s inside it? Well, Hammon’s got an answer for you.

When Hammon inked her five-year deal with the Aces, she became the highest-paid coach with a $1 million contract. But she ensured she became worth every penny — and in just nine months of Mark Davis purchasing the franchise, she did. It was a championship title. But she didn’t stop there — she ended up adding two more in just four years. Still, she wasn’t alone in taking the franchise toward greatness. So, with teary eyes, she made sure to give the Big Three the credit they deserved.

“I love being their coach, I love being their friend. Pushing them sometimes to their disliking a little bit, but I’m invested in their greatness,” said Hammon in the postgame press conference. “This one hits differently because it was different. There was probably a lot more adversity than any of us anticipated. … They’re stuck with me. I mean, wherever they go, they’re going to be stuck with me. I just believe in who they are. I admire who they are. And they’re phenomenal.” And yes, we get it.

If Coach Hammon was the architect, the Big Three were the bricks. Their collaboration on and off the court is something that kept the Aces going. This time, they were hovering around .500 in the first two and a half months, and that 53-point loss was historically embarrassing. But after the worst margin for a home loss in WNBA history, LV flipped the script.

And it was largely because of three players. While Chelsea Gray acted as a magician with the ball in her hands, putting in extra effort on defense, Jackie Young, one of the strongest guards, turned out to be the “silent assassin”. Then there was the league’s four-time MVP and the team’s captain, A’ja Wilson, who led the squad.

This ain’t the first time Big Three delivered as a unit, though. The combination of dynamic forces has worked together over the past five years, and that’s exactly what showed up in the Finals. The trio averaged 58.4 points per game across 12 playoff games. So, Hammon knew the edge she had and made sure to use it in the Finals while taking on the Mercury, who had their own Big Three and the league’s best scoring bench.

But the Aces’ trio made it difficult for Phoenix to breathe. While they had significant contributions throughout the playoffs, two games stood out. It felt like it was A’ja, Young, and Gray versus the Mercury. While they combined for 70 points in Game 2, they added 67 in Game 4. But what we all see on the court is the result of the chemistry Hammon has built over the years.

As Gray told Andscape on October 10, “Even if [Hammon] calls something out of the timeout, a lot of times we’ll see something, and Jackie takes it right down the lane, or A’ja fakes it and we go. … She’s allowed us to play basketball and given us the freedom to do that. With that has come chemistry.”

And over time, all three learned each other’s habits on and off the floor. Now, they’re the faces for the strongest franchises out there. But yes, the journey you see isn’t by “mistake”.

When Hammon inked her contract back in December 2021, the first thing she focused on was connecting with her players on a personal level. “Spend some time with them, get to know what makes them click, how they learn. Some people learn, they have to walk through it. Some people are visual learners, some people you can just draw something on the board and they can get it; other people can’t — they need to walk through it,” she said after the 2022 championship win.

For her, the bonding started by learning about each individual player — investing time sitting and talking to them. And being the first female assistant coach for the Spurs, she knew what that led to. “Because managing talent is probably almost as hard as parenting,” added the mother of two. While it was something she shared three years ago, her words still reflect the same sentiment.

Especially for the Big Three, as they’ve been with her since the beginning, supporting her no matter what. And yes, it did take time to figure out chemistry without Kelsey Plum and with the arrival of new faces. But they made it work. And that’s how, with lots of happiness, a few happy tears, a Finals MVP title, and as 2025 WNBA champions, A’ja Wilson and Co. sign off for the year. Happy offseason!