BRYAN STEFFY / COURTESY
Mark Davis is joined by Buckets, the Las Vegas Aces mascot, at a game in 2019.
Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022 | 2 a.m.
It’s one thing to talk about equality in athletics, detailing how some governing bodies aspire to bring the women’s game closer to the men’s in terms of resources and opportunity.
It’s another thing to close the gap in the vision, whether that’s the U.S. women’s national soccer team in its ongoing fight for equal pay and resources with the men’s team, or universities walking the tightrope to ensure its women’s sports aren’t an afterthought.
Those gender disparities were brought to light last March during the NCAA’s Final Fours when athletes playing in the women’s event posted photos on social media highlighting the gender disparities. The women’s weight room resembled a clubhouse of an apartment complex, showing the subordinate role of women participants shamefully isn’t close to being erased.
Fortunately, that’s far from the case in Las Vegas with Mark Davis.
His passion for women’s sports led the Raiders owner to buy the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA last year from MGM Resorts International. And his determination to provide a first-class and equitable experience is shining through with every move, including the hiring late last week of Becky Hammon to be the franchise’s coach.
The 44-year-old Hammon, a six-time WNBA all-star and assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, will be the league’s highest paid coach and reportedly earn three or four times more than the league’s highest-paid player. That would put her salary around $1 million. She replaces Bill Laimbeer, who is taking a front-office job with the franchise.
Hammon, considered one of basketball’s brightest coaches — regardless of gender — unsuccessfully tried to land a head coaching gig in the NBA last summer. The one line missing from her resume: Head coaching experience. Thanks to Davis, that will no longer be the case.
“Being the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces is a step forward and a step in the right direction for myself and for women’s basketball,” Hammon said. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this opportunity that I have. There’s something to being a head coach.”
Davis’ touch on the franchise will be highlighted by an ultramodern team facility in Henderson, a 50,000-square-foot complex that will include practice courts, training rooms, offices, locker rooms and more.
It’s the type of building a NBA team has, giving the Aces the best facility in the 12-team WNBA and paving the way for other franchises — and sports leagues — to see the value in closing the disparity gaps. Simply put, Davis is setting the standard in women’s athletics.
“You guys have heard why (Davis) bought the Aces,” Nikki Fargas, the Aces president, said at Hammon’s introductory news coverage. “A lot of that had to do with he wanted to elevate the league but he also wanted to elevate these young ladies.”
The franchise started in Utah as the Starzz in 1997 before moving to San Antonio as the Stars, and finally coming to Las Vegas in 2018. (Fortunately we didn’t call them the Star$).
When Davis took over last February, he was determined to help make the organization feel like the Raiders — one big family, where former players are still considered members of the Silver and Black.
So, he started reaching out to former players, eventually paying to have 40 alumni return for games last season.
This photo provided by Sylvia Crawley Spann, shows former WNBA player Sylvia Crawley Spann and her husband, Brian, seated bottom right, celebrating their wedding with Las Vegas Aces WNBA basketball team owner Mark Davis, standing at center, and other former members of the franchise and their guests at a restaurant in Las Vegas on May 29, 2021.
One of those players was Sylvia Crawley Spann, who played just one season in San Antonio and initially thought Davis’ invitation was a prank. But Davis was determined to go back 25 years and let those women know we remembered them, he said.
Not only did Crawley Spann attend the alumni festivities over Memorial Day weekend, she got married that weekend, with former teammates on the trip planned by Davis serving as the wedding party. The team dinner became their wedding reception dinner — complete with Davis front and center for the photo.
“I think Mark is setting a precedent. He gets it. How to run an organization and how to value your employees and past employees,” Crawley Spann told the Associated Press. “He wasn’t the owner of my specific team, but he considers us a part of the lineage.”
Hammon, who starred for the franchise for eight seasons when it was in San Antonio, had her jersey No. 25 retired by the Aces last summer as part of the alumni initiative. That experience, where she saw what Davis was building and how close the Aces were to a championship, planted the idea of Hammon returning to be the coach.
“They made it obvious,” Hammon said of the franchise’s pursuit. “They wanted me really, really bad.”
Hammon, who is the all-time franchise leader in assists (1,333), 3-pointers (498) and free throw percentage (92.1%), says the team is on the verge of a championship after losing in the 2020 WNBA Finals and 2021 semifinals. They are the betting favorite at William Hill at plus-250 ($1 wins $2.50) for the upcoming 2022 season.
The Aces will play at a faster pace and attempt more 3-pointers with Hammon calling the shots. They will also play with more energy, as Hammon says she would sacrifice some talent for a player who does the little things and competes with passion.
Winning a championship would certainly be a fitting next step for the best franchise in the league, showing that doing right by investing in equity leads to the ultimate prize.
