Las Vegas Aces

Founded:

1997

Stadium:

Mandalay Bay Events Center

The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in Paradise, Nevada. The Aces compete in the Western Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and play their home games at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the league's inaugural 1997 season. It then moved to San Antonio, Texas before the 2003 season and became the San Antonio Silver Stars, later shortened to the San Antonio Stars in 2014. The team relocated to Las Vegas before the 2018 season. The team is owned by MGM Resorts International. They are the fourth WNBA franchise not to share a market with an existing NBA team, following the Seattle Storm (were founded in 2000, when Seattle was also home to the NBA's SuperSonics), Tulsa Shock and Connecticut Sun. As the Stars, the team qualified for the WNBA Playoffs in seven of their fourteen years in San Antonio. The franchise has been home to many high-quality players such as all-star point guard Becky Hammon, solid power-forward Sophia Young, former first-overall draft pick Ann Wauters, and seven-foot-two-inch center Margo Dydek. In 2008, the franchise went to the WNBA Finals but were swept by Detroit.