Las Vegas Aces coaching staff are Becky Hammon, Natalie Williams, Natalie Nakase and Tyler Marsh. Aces changed their name from San Antonio Stars in 2018.
The WNBA team was founded in '97. They had a winless history in the past and did not have the best stats. Things turned around in the 2000s when they lost the conference finals and semi-finals.
Davis turned the ship around in with the addition of a new training room, improvement in the court, and hired smart coaches, players, and management.
However, the team was in a slump from '03-06 but they turned things around in '07-08. They succeded in winning a conference title. Vegas' team won the '22 championship, they are one of the best underdog stories in basketball. Previously, the team was struggling in the league.
Becky Hammon - Head Coach
Becky Hammon is the Las Vegas Aces head coach since 2021. Hammon salary is $ 1 million per year. She is the highest-paid female coach in the league.
Russian-origin basketball mentor is a former female basketball player. She played with multiple WNBA teams and later played for her home country.
Hammon started out by becoming an assistant coach for the NBA team Spurs. Later, she performed the duties of head coach in the summer league games. She was the first female mentor to perform the duties of coaching in the NBA.
In '21, Mark Davis reached out and she signed a million-dollar contract and joined the women's league. Becky was the best gamble for Mark as she took the team to win the 22 championship cup.
Becky's personal accolades include her enshrinement in the WNBA and college basketball Hall of Fame.
Natalie Nakase - First Assistant Coach
Natalie Nakase is a Las Vegas Aces coach. She did not have a prolific career as a player but Nakase found success as a coach.
Nakase is an alumna of UCLA and played the position of point guard. She had a short career in basketball, Nakase only played for two years; after her WNBA career did not pan out, she began coaching.
Natalie has an impressive resume in coaching as the former player has more than a decade of experience in the field. She became the assistant coach of the Los Angeles Clippers for two years before joining the D-League.
Hence, she was scouted by the Aces management as Nakase assumes the responsibility of assistant coach under Becky Hammon.
Japanese origin coach is making over $85,000 in her coaching gig as per Salary.com.
Nakase has become the first Asian-American to win the WNBA title in history. She made a record by becoming the first female to join the assistant coach rank with the Clippers.
Tyler Marsh - Assistant Coach
Tyler Marsh is the assistant coach for the Aces. He is promoted to the position of player development exec in the Aces.
Marsh started his career as a coach for Iowa Energy in the junior league of the NBA. After serving as an assistant coach for multiple D-league teams including Mad Ants.
Tyler went on to take over the duties of player development coach in the Toronto Raptors. After working with the team for four years, his team won the 2019 championship.
Likewise, another crown in Marsh's career came when he joined the Aces. North Carolina residing individual was an assistant coach for the WNBA team when they won their '22 championship.
Marsh is a married man and outside of basketball he mainly devotes his time to his wife and his newborn.
Likewise, Marsh makes around $85,000 in a year according to Salary.com. He used to earn an average of $32 per hour as an assistant coach thus his promotion might have increased his pay as well.
Charlene Thomas Swinson - Assistant Coach
Charlene Thomas-Swinson is among the Aces staff since 2022. Before joining WNBA, she served as an assistant for LSU for more than five years.
Swinson had already assumed a bigger position, she played the role of head coach in Tulsa and left the team after six years. Charlene started her coaching after the completion of her college.
She is an alumnus of Auburn college which is famous for golf. Thomas did her first assistantship at Columbia Union College and later joined Auburn.
In her collegiate coaching career, she took her team to the title of C-USA women's basketball tournament and won the title. Charlene was named "C-USA Coach of the Year."
After her three-decade-long career, she was inducted into the Montgomery County, Maryland's Sports Hall of Fame in 2021. She made an immense contribution to women's basketball over the course of years.
Bandele Talib Jr. - Head Athletic Trainer
Bandele Talib Jr is a head athletic trainer of Las Vegas's team. He is a graduate of the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania.
Talib started early in his career. He worked as an assistant athletic trainer for North Carolina Central University.
Till 2020, he worked as an assistant for Knicks. Talib joined the Aces in their '21 season. He was responsible for treating, rehabilitating, and assessing injuries.
Bandele's plethora of experience came in handy for him to ready a solid roster for Las Vegas's team to compete in the championship.
WNBA has yet to make a profit in the league but the '23 season does look promising in terms of audience attendance and viewers in the channel.
Furthermore, the Aces are looked at as the favorite to win the '23 championship as well.
Jeremiah Welch - Performance Coach
Jeremiah Welch is the head performance coach of the Aces. He lives in Henderson, Nevada. Welch worked with multiple universities before joining Pistons.
Welch worked for Notre Dame, Pennsylvania, and finally took over as performance head for the G-League team of the Detroit Pistons.
He joined Aces in 2023 alongside other strength and conditioning staff. Welch is quite popular among his university students for his athletic conditioning.
While working with the pros in the league, he has taken over additional responsibilities to make them ready for the league.
Furthermore, other staffs of Las Vegas are as follows;
- Message Therapist; Lujene Clark
- Assistant General Manager: Tonya Holley
- Executive Services and Player Experiences: Keri Laimbeer
- Manager, Basketball Operations: Rich Hillard
- Special Assistant: Celia Marfone
- Equipment Manager: Kristin Moore
Natalie Williams - General Manager
Natalie Williams is Las Vegas Aces's GM since 2022. The 52-year-old former ball player started out as an assistant coach for high school kids and second career in real estate.
Davis gave her an opportunity to apply her business knowledge to grow the team. During Williams's stint, the Aces became the first cup winners of the WNBA and have good stats this season.
According to Salary.com, she is making an average of $124,000 a year. She might not be the highest-paid gm but the basketball exec might have a stake or other business deals with the company.
In her playing career, she is regarded as one of the best rebounding power forward in women's basketball. She represented her country in international games even winning a gold medal at the Olympics.
Williams is an athlete with both talent and brains, she already started her restaurant while playing in WNBA at Utah in '02. Thus, the basketball star capitalized on her popularity to garner attraction in her business.
Las Vegas Aces 2023 Season
Las Vegas Aces '23 season looks promising. Becky is leading her second year with the Aces. Last year, Las Vegas defeated Connecticut Sun in the '22 WNBA finals.
Vegas roster's starting players are as follows:
- Chelsea Gray: Point Guard
- Kelsey Plum: Shooting Guard
- Jackie Yong: Small Forward
- Candance Parker: Power Forward
- A'ja Wilson: Center
For the sixth man, there is Sydney Colson, Alysha Clark, Kierstan Bell, Kiah Stokes, and Cayla George. This is the roster picked by Becky and Natalie.
In the '23 run, the Aces are the best team in the Western and Eastern Conference with 28 wins and four losses. They have only lost one game at home.
The Aces are in first place in WNBA alongside Libert and Sun from the Eastern Conference. There are going for the championship this season as well.
