The Las Vegas Aces opened their season at home May 14 night by holding off a late rally by the Phoenix Mercury to win 89 to 80. Before the game, Aces team members received their championship rings, and WNBA officials unveiled the 2023 winners' banner. It now hangs next to the banner from 2022 inside Michelob Ultra Arena.
The W's (as it's called) season is highly anticipated — and not just for Aces fans. Former Iowa Hawkeye's superstar Caitlyn Clark and other collegiate standouts are riding into the pros on a wave of excitement about women’s basketball. One person who's definitely watching all the action is Pepper Persley.
Despite being only 13 years old, Persley is a successful WNBA reporter, who’s been following the league for seven years. She hosts a podcast, Dish with Pepper, and has talked with almost every star player and coach in the WNBA, including the Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Coach Becky Hammon.
On the Aces’ chance of a three-peat, Persley said it's "definitely possible," adding, "Their pre-season games they'd showed great team camraderie. I think, obviously, having won back-to-back champtionships, they have a winning culture there, and they expect that of themselves."
Stopping the Aces' momentum, Persley said, will be tough, because all their top players can score from just about anywhere on the court, which makes them hard to guard. "It's all about matchups for that team (that wants to beat them)," Persley said. "The Liberty came pretty close, having that kind of 'super team'-type team where they have the ability to score from all their positions."
As far as player news goes, Persely said to watch for new standouts, such as center Kia Stokes, who replaces the recently retired Candace Parker, and guard Sydney Colson, who's a fan favorite. Persley noted that not having guard Chelsea Gray, who injured her foot in the last game of the 2023 season, back on the court yet is a blow — as much psychologically as it is in terms of game play. Gray, known affectionately as the "point gawd," is a WNBA veteran who rallies her teammates with spirited advice.
Outside the Aces, Persley believes the enthusiasm explosion that happened during NCAA playoffs, focused on Clark and other college stars, will continue. "I don't think their stardom will stop," she said. "They have a lot of fans following them — a lot of the rookies — and especially for the Fever (Clark's team), they have away opponents already moving to bigger venues to play against them, so all of this is helping to grow the league." Persley added that recent league improvements, such as the addition of charter (rather than commercial) flights for women's professional basketball teams, something men have long enjoyed, are welcome additions that she hopes will improve.
Persley also talked about her beginning in sports broadcasting at the age of 6, which was helped along by her own love of sports and curiosity, along with her parents' support and the graciousness of the W. Persley hopes to continue in the field as a career, though she has also branched out into other areas, such as pop culture — and even children's book writing. In February, her anti-bullying book, Not Too Anything, was released by Young Author's Publishing.
"I thought this was a really great way for me to bring attention to anti-bullying, which was something that affected me personally," she says. "It's an important topic that people don't talk about too much, because it mostly affects kids."
Guest: Pepper Persley, sports reporter
