It was supposed to be business as usual for the Las Vegas Aces. Instead, it turned into what head coach Becky Hammon called “a good old-fashioned ass-whooping.” And she didn’t stop there.
After a humiliating 68-95 loss to the Golden State Valkyries-a team that entered the night on a four-game losing streak-Hammon didn’t sugarcoat a single syllable.
“This is one of the worst games I’ve ever seen the Aces play,” Hammon fumed postgame, clearly fed up. “I’m not going to coach effort. That’s the one thing I can’t deal with. You’re in charge of your effort. I guess I’m in charge of playing time.”
Yikes.
What made the sting even worse? This wasn’t just a random blowout-it came at the hands of former Aces benchwarmer turned Valkyrie sparkplugKate Martin, whose exit once left A’ja Wilson crumpled in her kitchen in tears.
Yeah, that Kate Martin.
Martin did not forgive her former team
Wilson was devastated when Martin joined the Valkyries, posting on social media: “Did I scream and fall to my knees in the kitchen when I heard her name get called? … Yeah. Was I sad? Absolutely.” But judging by Saturday night’s blowout, the heartbreak may have only just begun.
Martin torched her former squad with 7 electric points off the bench in just over 10 minutes during the first half-capped off with a dagger of a buzzer-beating three that sent the home crowd into orbit. Since joining Golden State, the rookie has tripled her scoring average from her time in Vegas and is now hitting threes at a blazing 42.1%.
Meanwhile, the Aces? They’ve lost five straight and look more like paper champions than two-time title winners. Their offensive rating has plummeted from No. 2 last year to No. 8, and their defense has followed the same depressing path.
The Aces are in free fall
Even A’ja Wilson’s 17 points and 6 rebounds couldn’t hide the cracks. Jewell Loyd, once a top-tier scorer, is putting up a career-low 10.2 PPG. As a team, the Aces shot just 35.5% from the field and a miserable 24% from three.
To pour salt in the wound, this was the third-worst loss in the Becky Hammon era-and it came against a team coached by Natalie Nakase, someone Hammon once hired as an assistant. Talk about a full-circle smackdown.
At this point, the only ones playing like champs are the Valkyries-and maybe Kate Martin made the smartest move of them all by switching teams and rewriting the narrative.
Massive L for the Aces. Massive W for the girl they let get away.
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