Las Vegas Aces’s Head Coach Becky Hammon Calls Indiana Fever Cry babies, always complaining and ..
In a press conference that crackled with unfiltered bravado, Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon unleashed a verbal barrage on the Indiana Fever, dubbing them “crybabies” and vowing her squad will dismantle them in Sunday’s WNBA semifinal opener. The 47-year-old coaching phenom, fresh off a gritty 74-73 Game 3 thriller over the Seattle Storm, didn’t mince words as the No. 2-seeded Aces prepare to host the upstart No. 6 Fever at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
“They’ve been whining about everything from playoff formats to fouls all season – crybabies, plain and simple,” Hammon declared, her voice laced with the intensity of a championship chaser. “We caught them when we were stumbling earlier this year, but they haven’t seen the real Aces yet. Come Sunday, we’ll buckle in, expose that fragility, and send them packing. This series ends with us raising stakes again.”
The barbs stem from a heated regular-season history. Indiana stunned Las Vegas with back-to-back home wins in July – an 81-54 rout and an 80-70 nail-biter – snapping the Aces’ 16-game streak against the Fever dating back to 2020. Hammon, still seething from that 27-point embarrassment she called “one of the worst games I’ve ever seen,” pointed to the Fever’s complaints about last year’s first-round sweep by the Connecticut Sun without a home game. Those gripes, she implied, prompted the WNBA’s controversial 1-1-1 format shift for 2025, which Hammon has slammed as favoring underdogs like Indiana.
But context fuels the fire. The Fever, propelled by Kelsey Mitchell’s playoff heroics (24 points in their 87-85 Game 3 upset over Atlanta), are no pushovers. Without injured superstar Caitlin Clark – sidelined for the season with a groin issue – they’ve leaned on Aliyah Boston’s interior dominance and Mitchell’s sharpshooting to reach the semis for the first time since 2015. Yet Hammon dismissed the narrative: “No Clark? That’s not an excuse; it’s an opportunity. Our defense will swarm them like we did Seattle. A’ja [Wilson] is locked in – 38 points last game? That’s just the appetizer.”
Wilson, the reigning MVP averaging 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds, echoed her coach’s sentiment post-practice. “We’ve been building for this. Indiana’s tough, but talk is cheap. We’re the back-to-back champs for a reason.” The Aces’ late-season surge – 20 wins in 23 games – has them peaking, bolstered by trade acquisition NaLyssa Smith, the ex-Fever forward whose acrimonious exit adds personal spice. Smith’s integration has stabilized a roster that Hammon admits was “in turmoil” during those July losses.
Rivalries reignite in this best-of-five clash (Games 1 and 2 in Vegas on Sept. 21 and 23, then Indiana for Game 3 on Sept. 26). Tickets are flying – starting at $38 for Game 1 – as fans brace for a powder keg. Stephanie White, Indiana’s coach and Hammon’s peer, fired back subtly: “Words don’t win series. We’ll let our play do the talking.”
Hammon’s unapologetic style – forged in her trailblazing path as the WNBA’s first female head coach – has polarized, but it unites her locker room. As the Aces eye a third straight Finals berth, her “crybabies” jab isn’t just trash talk; it’s a psychological dagger aimed at fracturing Indiana’s Cinderella momentum. Sunday’s tipoff at 3 p.m. ET on ABC promises fireworks: Will the Fever fold under the heat, or flip the script on Vegas’s veterans?
One thing’s certain – Hammon’s not backing down. “Playoffs are for warriors, not whiners,” she grinned. “See you in the paint.”
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