When the WNBA semifinals open Sunday, the matchups are a study in contrasts. They include one of the league's original teams, the New York Liberty, and one of its youngest franchises, the Golden State Valkyries, who are in their second season. The Las Vegas Aces have won three of the past four championships and are making their eighth consecutive semifinal appearance. The Atlanta Dream have been swept in all three of their WNBA Finals trips and haven't made the semifinals since 2018.
Two already established all-time greats -- Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson and New York's Breanna Stewart -- each have three WNBA titles. Golden State and Atlanta don't have a Mount Rushmore-like legend, but they are the higher seeds and have home-court advantage in these best-of-five series. The Dream host the Liberty in Game 1 on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, ABC), followed by the Aces visiting the Valkyries (4 p.m. ET).
ESPN's Kendra Andrews, Kareem Copeland, Alexa Philipppou and Michael Voepel break down the semifinals. The Golden State Valkyries have a 64.9% chance of advancing to the WNBA Finals, while the Las Vegas Aces have a 35.1% chance. A'ja Wilson was the most dominant individual player on any team in the first round and will be the favorite to win a third Finals MVP if the Aces advance.
It's a classic offense-versus-defense matchup. The Aces finished the regular season as the No. 2 offense in the league, and the Valkyries have consistently been the No. 1 defense. A Hall of Famer in Becky Hammon, who has been at the helm of all those titles, versus the protege in Natalie Nakase, who was an assistant in Vegas from 2022 to '24 (including two of those title runs).
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing