As A’ja Wilson was headed to her final press conference of the season after winning yet another title, she was curious what the journalists were up to. Wilson headed to the media seating and sat beside the Athletic’s Ben Pickman. The reporter joked if she wanted to help with his story, “What do you got?” Wilson asked before heading to the stage. As lighthearted as that moment was, it reflected the culture of confidence and comfort that now defines the Aces. That mindset, however, didn’t appear overnight. It traces back to the man who transformed the franchise’s identity: owner Mark Davis.

Davis bought the team in 2021 for $2 million. 4 years and 3 championships later, the team is now the most valued in the WNBA at $310 million, which is a $308 million markup from when Davis bought it. There were doubts about how the franchise would perform after moving to a non-NBA city, after the San Antonio owners sold the franchise in 2017. To Davis, there was never a doubt. 

“Vegas being the dynasty of the WNBA, and of course, this speculation of possible expansion, the NBA going there. Is Vegas now officially a basketball town?” Davis was asked. “I think it always had been. I remember back in the days when I was living in the Bay Area and, you know, Jerry Tarkanian and that basketball team, you know, I think they captured the imagination of the country and basketball with the summer league and everything else coming there. It holds its own, and I think it’s a great basketball market.” Davis replied.

Long before the Aces became the face of women’s basketball, UNLV and coach Jerry Tarkanian gave Vegas its first real taste of basketball greatness. Tarkanian foresaw the three-point revolution long before the NBA ever got there. He led the Runnin’ Rebels to four NCAA Final Fours and won the national championship in 1990, changing the game in the process. “We had the interest of the entire community,” said Dave Rice, who played in that 1990 title-winning team. “It was an exciting time in college basketball because it was all about the Runnin’ Rebels. The program changed a city. We don’t have a professional franchise here. The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels were that to the city.”

But that was a long time ago. The city was gasping for a basketball team, and in came the Las Vegas Aces. In the 7 years the franchise has belonged to the city, it has reached the semifinals all but one year while winning the title three times. Becky Hammon and A’ja Wilson are the backbone of this success, building this new Las Vegas franchise from the ground up. But behind the curtain, Mark Davis gives a lesson on how to run a franchise. 

The Las Vegas Aces are fortunate to have Mark Davis

A’ja Wilson arrived in 2018 as the No.1 pick, and the franchise moved to Vegas. Davis arrived later in 2021, and the team was already trending upwards by then, but not quite there. The team had reached the finals and a top four, but the man who led them, Bill Laimbeer, left. He was tired of the enormous energy that coaching took. Davis had a major problem in his first year, and he took a punt on an unproven Becky Hammon, who had only been an assistant at the time, something that immediately paid off. 

He believed in who he hired, and his philosophy has shaped the franchise since. “Hire really good people. And I’ve got three really great women,” Davis had said in 2023 while referring to Aces president Nikki Fargas, general manager Natalie Williams (at the time), and coach Becky Hammon.“I just get the eff out of the way.” Williams left last year, and a replacement hasn’t been hired yet.

Beyond the people, Davis has come in and revolutionized what the franchise looked like. He built a winning culture while giving the franchise a 64,000 square foot Aces practice facility, a first of its kind, solely dedicated to a WNBA team in the league’s 27-year history. Partly because of this massive success, there are talks of a possible NBA expansion to the city, which is a big deal because usually it’s the other way around. 

As a player, one has little control over things like these. Look at Angel Reese and Chicago; she is at odds with the ownership, with rumors of a possible trade request. They are yet to complete their practice facility. Then, the Dallas Wings have been a mess with multiple coaches being hired and fired, a hurdle Paige Bueckers will face in her career. Yes, even A’ja Wilson started out practicing at the University of Nevada (UNLV) campus, but it was Davis that changed things. So, he is also among the reasons for A’ja Wilson’s massive success.