The Las Vegas Aces played without three starting players in a nationally televised WNBA game against the New York Liberty on Sunday, citing concerns over player workload and travel demands.
Becky Hammon, head coach of the Aces, did not field her usual starting lineup for the road contest, omitting A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young from the opening five. Jewell Loyd, Dana Evans, and Brianna Turner started in their place, and the three rested players did not see any game action beyond the bench.
The Aces lost 111-71 to the Liberty at Barclays Center, marking their second consecutive road defeat. The team had traveled from Minnesota, where they fell 98-87 to the Lynx the previous afternoon—a contest in which Wilson, Gray, and Young all logged significant minutes.
Hammon defended the decision as a measure to prioritize player health amid a demanding schedule. “The health and safety of players comes first,” she said. “Wherever we end up, we end up, and we’ll play whatever hand is dealt to us. To me, this was a just a bigger picture type of scenario.”
The Aces’ schedule included a Saturday road game against Minnesota followed by Sunday’s afternoon road contest in New York, totaling less than 24 hours between games. Hammon highlighted the travel burden, stating, “Not going to put players in any kind of jeopardy to get hurt when we’ve been expending a lot of energy and traveling a lot of miles back and forth, crisscrossing the country.”
Key Context: Player Workload and Schedule Strain
Wilson, the league’s leading scorer at 26.3 points per game, also ranks third in rebounds (9.7) and first in blocks (2.0). Gray and Young contribute significantly to the team’s offensive and playmaking, averaging a combined 13.8 assists per game. Their absence altered the Aces’ rotation, though the team retained other talent, including NaLyssa Smith and veteran guard Jewell Loyd, who scored 19 points in an overtime win over the Chicago Sky last month.
The Liberty, by contrast, had last played on August 5 and had their full roster available for the matchup. The Aces entered the game behind the Golden State Valkyries and Lynx for third place in the standings.
Hammon’s comments also touched on broader scheduling concerns, suggesting the WNBA’s schedule demands differ from those in the NBA. “Everybody has a brutal schedule at some point,” she said. “I don't even think they do this in the NBA, though, where it's less than 24 hours. You can check, and I'm pretty sure that's not even legal on the NBA side.”
The Aces’ decision to rest key players follows a pattern of load management seen across professional sports, where teams balance competitive performance with long-term player welfare. The outcome of this game, however, underscores the immediate competitive cost of such decisions.