Aces still evaluating Wilson before Loyd’s latest matchup with Storm

Star A’ja Wilson wasn’t ruled out Thursday as the Aces prepared to again face new teammate Jewell Loyd’s former team.

Wilson, placed in the WNBA’s concussion protocol after being evaluated by a doctor, was listed as questionable on the Aces’ status report for Friday’s game against the Seattle Storm at Michelob Ultra Arena.

The three-time league MVP was seen leaving the Aces’ headquarters after a closed-door practice Thursday. It’s unclear if she participated.

She has missed three games since taking a hit to the face from former teammate Dearica Hamby in the Aces’ 97-89 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on June 11.

“She was here. We’re still in evaluation mode with her,” Aces coach Becky Hammon told the Review-Journal when asked if Wilson participated in Thursday’s practice. “I think there’s a process she has to go through.”

Hammon was later asked about Wilson’s status by a group of reporters, and she offered a similar answer.

“She’s passing her next test, I guess, or whatever,” Hammon said, seemingly trying to avoid using the wrong terminology. “So we’ll see.”

Storm drama

The last time the Aces faced the Storm, an incident was brought to the league’s attention involving Loyd, whom the Aces acquired in the offseason trade that sent Kelsey Plum to the Sparks.

Following a 75–70 win over Loyd’s team of 10 years on June 1, she was allegedly subject to profane language from one of the Storm’s assistant coaches.

The assistant told Loyd “F—- you” after the game, leading the Aces to flag the issue, Hammon told the Review-Journal on Thursday.

A report on Thursday claimed the WNBA “dismissed” the Aces’ complaint without any penalties. When contacted about the development, a league source said that terminology wasn’t fully accurate because the WNBA never enacted a formal investigation or viewed the cursing as a punishable offense.

“I think it’s completely, I don’t know, unprofessional, immoral … if you hold a leadership position, to speak to people like that,” Hammon said. “But that’s just my personal take. I don’t know what the league came back with. … Honestly, I’ve been too consumed with our own team.”

The Aces are 1-2 in Wilson’s absence, with a narrow win over the league-worst Dallas Wings and losses to the Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx.

The Aces said that guard Jackie Young did not participate in Thursday’s practice, but she said she felt good after getting some shots up.

“We were trying to get the ball moving, our bodies moving,” Loyd said of the practice without Young and possibly Wilson. “Obviously, we’ve had a long stretch here of just competitive games. I think we were playing so hard, so it’s a nice balance to understand how to rest your body, but also push it as well.”

Loyd: Things ‘shifting’

Loyd won two WNBA championships with the Storm and was the league’s leading scorer in 2023. She filed a complaint against the Storm’s coaching staff following last season.

In response, the Storm hired a law firm to investigate the accusations of harassment and bullying by the team’s coaches. Loyd requested a trade shortly after it was announced that the probe concluded without finding any wrongdoing.

Loyd is averaging 11.2 points per game this season. It’s a career low excluding her rookie year, but she said that she feels confident in a positive trajectory as things have “started shifting a little bit.”

Hammon said Loyd has been “nothing but super easy, super coachable,” since she arrived in Las Vegas and that the team will certainly look to make sure she feels supported against her former team.

From Loyd’s vantage point, the matchup won’t feel as loaded since it’s the third time she’s facing the Storm as an opponent this year, she said. In the initial meeting, the Storm dominated the Aces 102-82 on May 25.

‘The first one you’re obviously, you know, back in Seattle. You feel those emotions. Now it’s just another game. We’re just trying to get through it,” Loyd said. “At this point in the season, too, you really got to lock in on your team and what you need to be doing to help your team get to the next level.”

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.