DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

NEW YORK (AP) — A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces will have homecourt advantage throughout the WNBA playoffs — a place they only lost once during the regular season. It wouldn't have mattered if the Liberty won that game because the Aces beat Phoenix to finish the regular season 34-6. “If you had said 34-6 to me back in May, I would have jumped at that in a second,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said. The other half of Las Vegas' bracket features fourth-seeded Dallas against No. The two teams played a thriller to conclude the regular season on Sunday that ended when Brittney Sykes put in a lob at the buzzer to lift the Mystics to a 90-88 win.

Persons: — A'ja Wilson, Becky Hammon, Brittney Sykes, “, Natasha Cloud, you’ve Organizations: Las Vegas Aces, Liberty, Aces, Phoenix, Dallas, Minnesota, Connecticut, Washington, Mystics, Los Angeles Locations: Washington, Las Vegas, Vegas, Atlanta, tiebreakers, Seattle, Phoenix , Indiana, Los

PHOENIX (AP) — Brittney Griner's return to the WNBA after nearly 10 months in a Russian prison hasn't always been the smoothest ride. One more joyful moment came on Friday night, when the 6-foot-9 Griner played her final home game of the season in front of an announced sellout crowd of 13,206. "I've really enjoyed being here, playing basketball, being with this group, being back in the Valley with the fans. “I'm just happy to be here, doing what I love.”She'll have one more game on Sunday in Las Vegas. Like Griner, Hammon also played for Russian teams during the offseason in her playing days and even represented the country in the Olympics in 2008 and 2012.

Persons: hasn't, Griner, “ It's, ” Griner, I've, “ I'm, ”, “, Viktor Bout —, Becky Hammon, Hammon, ” Hammon, Sydney Colson, I'm, ” Colson, ___ Organizations: PHOENIX, WNBA, Las Vegas Aces, Aces, ESPN, Mercury, Russian, Nike Locations: Las Vegas, United States, Texas, Russia

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Criminal charges were dropped Thursday against Las Vegas Aces player Riquna Williams after the alleged victim in a July domestic violence incident at their home stopped cooperating with prosecutors ahead of a preliminary hearing to determine if the case should go to trial. Williams’ attorney, Brandon Albright, told reporters that Williams hopes to rejoin the team for WNBA playoffs that begin next week. “It’s our hope that in short order she’ll be able to join her team,” Albright said. Williams played for the University of Miami before she was drafted into the WNBA in 2012 by the Tulsa Shock. ____Associated Press sports writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Persons: Riquna Williams, Williams, Brandon Albright, “, she’ll, ” Albright, hasn’t, Albright, Taylor Reeves, Amy Wilson, ” Reeves, Wilson, Reeves, Mark Anderson Organizations: LAS VEGAS, Las Vegas Aces, WNBA, Aces, Western Division, Clark, Las Vegas Justice, Police, University of Miami, Tulsa, Los Angeles Sparks, Associated Press Locations: Florida, Las Vegas

☆ Tom Brady becomes minority owner of Birmingham City
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 1, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) gets pumped up prior to the game against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports/File PhotoAug 3 (Reuters) - Seven-times Super Bowl champion Tom Brady has become a minority owner in English soccer club Birmingham City and will become the chairman of its new advisory board, the Championship team announced on Thursday. "Tom Brady joining the Birmingham City team is a statement of intent. "I've been part of some amazing teams in my day, and I'm looking forward to applying my perspective to create that same success here in Birmingham," Brady said. He was unveiled as the newest celebrity team owner in the E1 World Championship, the new electric race boat competition.

Persons: Tom Brady, Raymond James Stadium, Kim Klement, Brady, Tom, Tom Wagner, I've, Rohith Nair, Robert Birsel Organizations: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, Raymond, Birmingham City, Championship, NFL, Knighthead Capital Management, Premier League, WNBA, Las Vegas Aces, Thomson Locations: Tampa , Florida, USA, England's, Birmingham, Bengaluru

☆ Aliyah Boston Has Officially Arrived
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Claire Fahy | More About Claire Fahy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Aliyah Boston said she usually keeps it cool when she faces the star basketball players she grew up watching on television. Boston, a rookie power forward and center for the Indiana Fever, was in a close contest against the Las Vegas Aces and she was shoulder to shoulder with her childhood idol, Candace Parker. “It was unreal,” Boston said. This is serious business.’”Fifteen years ago, when Boston was just 6 years old, Parker won the W.N.B.A.’s Rookie of the Year Award. Now Boston is on track to do the same.

Persons: Boston, Candace Parker, “, ’, Parker Organizations: Indiana, Las Vegas Aces Locations: Boston, “

☆ Griner named WNBA All-Star for ninth time
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was named a WNBA All-Star for the ninth time on Sunday, just a little over six months after being released from a Russian prison. Griner warned during the preseason that she would need time to regain her full abilities after the 10 months she spent in Russian custody but has blown away her own expectations and was ninth in the league in average points per game as of Sunday. Twice MVP A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and 2018 MVP Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty were named the captains for the All-Star Game, which is set for July 15 in Las Vegas. The Indiana Fever's Aliyah Boston, who went first overall in the 2023 draft, became the first rookie since 2014 to earn an All-Star selection. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Griner, A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Amy Tennery, Hugh Lawson Organizations: YORK, Mercury, Western Conference, Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, Aliyah Boston, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas, The Indiana, New York

☆ Golden Knights' Stanley Cup win cements Las Vegas as a big-time sports city
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Contessa Brewer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates with the Stanley Cup after the Vegas Golden Knights won the NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers on June 13, 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Stanley Cup belongs to Sin City. The Vegas Golden Knights, in just their sixth season in the NHL, won the league's championship Tuesday night, completing a 4-1 series victory over the Cinderella Florida Panthers. Now, the who's who of Las Vegas have become Golden Knights fans. Murren championed the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, which MGM owned at the time and later sold to Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis in 2021.

Persons: Mark Stone, Bill Foley, It's, Bill Hornbuckle, Jim Murren, Murren, Mark Davis, Davis Organizations: Vegas Golden Knights, NHL, Florida Panthers, Mobile, The Vegas Golden Knights, Cinderella Florida Panthers, Vegas, Las, Golden Knights, MGM, CNBC, Sports City, Las Vegas Aces, Las Vegas Raiders Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, Sin City, Las Vegas, Sin, Vegas, California

☆ Tom Brady shuts down speculation of potential NFL return
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Jacob Lev | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Tom Brady has shut down speculation and rumors of a potential return to football. While speaking to Sports Illustrated, the 45-year-old Brady said on Thursday he’s “certain” he will not play football again. Instead, Brady said he was looking forward to starting his role as a broadcaster for Fox Sports and the “opportunity ahead” with the Las Vegas Raiders. In May, Brady agreed to buy a minority ownership stake in the team. Brady also owns an ownership stake in the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.

Persons: Tom Brady, Brady, “, I’ve, ” Brady, Patrick Smith Organizations: CNN, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, Las Vegas Raiders, Las Vegas Aces, Kansas City Chiefs, Super, Getty, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NFL

☆ Griner, 'superteams' in focus as WNBA season kicks off
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Amy Tennery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - Brittney Griner is back in action for the Phoenix Mercury while the New York Liberty and defending champions Las Vegas Aces are expected to usher in the WNBA's "superteam" era when a new season tips off on Friday. "It was cool, and then at the same time, I was sitting there looking around, zoned out a little bit," said Griner, who will open her season on the road against the Sparks on Friday. I mean, these are some of the best players in the league," head coach Sandy Brondello told reporters this week. She will join reigning MVP A'ja Wilson and All-Star Kelsey Plum, along with two-time champion Alysha Clark, who also signed as a free agent. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ What to Know About the 2023 W.N.B.A. Season
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Sara Ziegler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Griner played no basketball during her imprisonment and is still working to get back into game shape. The off-season was dominated by free-agent signings and trades that established what could be two superteams: the Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces. The Liberty made three key moves: First, they traded with the Connecticut Sun for Jonquel Jones, the league’s most valuable player in 2021. Then they landed one of the top free agents: Breanna Stewart, the 2018 M.V.P., who had won two championships in Seattle. Those three join the returnees Betnijah Laney and Sabrina Ionescu, who have each made an All-Star team.

☆ Aces coach Hammon denies mistreating pregnant player
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Amy Tennery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The WNBA suspended Hammon for two games on Tuesday, saying she had violated "Respect in the Workplace" policies. The violation "was related to comments made by Hammon to Hamby in connection with Hamby’s recent pregnancy", the league said in a statement. The league also docked the Aces their 2025 first-round pick for offering "impermissible benefits" related to Hamby's contract extension negotiations. Hammon told reporters that while she did ask about Hamby's pregnancy, she never made derogatory remarks and that their relationship was amicable until she informed the former first-round draft pick that she would be traded. She took the reins in early 2022 after eight years as an assistant coach with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs.

☆ Aces lose 2025 first-round pick, Hammon suspended for WNBA rule violations
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 16 (Reuters) - The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) stripped defending champions Las Vegas Aces of their 2025 first-round draft pick and suspended head coach Becky Hammon for two games without pay for violating league rules on Tuesday. Hammon, who took the reins last year after eight years as an assistant coach with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, was found to have committed a "Respect in the Workplace" violation with comments regarding Hamby's recent pregnancy. The investigation, however, was not able to substantiate concerns over the Aces' conduct during the off-season. The Next reported in February that The Aces were under investigation by the WNBA for circumventing the salary cap. "The Aces failed to adhere to league rules and regulations and have been disciplined accordingly.

☆ An N.F.L. Star Finds Confidence in Making Music
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Emmanuel Morgan | Gabriella Angotti-Jones | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Later in 2017, Darren Waller released his debut album, “Better Call Wall,” 12 songs he rapped with lyrics about his life. reinstated Waller, he signed with the Raiders in November 2018 and was named to the Pro Bowl in the 2020 season after posting 1,196 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. In his downtime, he began dating Plum, a star player for the W.N.B.A’s Las Vegas Aces, shortly after meeting her last April while recording a podcast. He proposed to her in October during a bye week for the Raiders, with Waller later telling McDaniels and Ziegler that the couple was keeping their upcoming marriage confidential. Before Waller and Plum could reveal their March wedding on Instagram, Ziegler and McDaniels told reporters of the upcoming nuptials during an off-the-record session at the N.F.L.

☆ Athletics acquire land for Las Vegas ballpark
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Athletics president Dave Kaval said the team was pushing ahead with plans for a new stadium in Las Vegas after the process to build a waterfront ballpark in Oakland stalled. "We have a pact in Las Vegas that we think can work and has the support from the league, so we are really putting all our focus in Las Vegas and the efforts there." MLB is the latest major sport league eager to get in on the Las Vegas action. "In 2021, given the continued lack of progress, MLB instructed the A's to explore a parallel path plan with Las Vegas. "We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year."

☆ Oakland Athletics signal impending move to Las Vegas with agreement to purchase land near strip, per reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Homero De La Fuente | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics have signed a binding purchase agreement for land near the Las Vegas Strip, where the team plans to construct a Major League ballpark, according to reports from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and The Athletic, citing Athletics team president Dave Kaval. A general view of play between the Oakland Athletics and the Texas Rangers at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on August 6, 2020. Lachlan Cunningham/Getty ImagesMLB commissioner Rob Manfred expressed his support on the Athletics’ plans to relocate to Las Vegas. “Welcoming the A’s to Las Vegas would be great news for Southern Nevada as well as our entire state,” Lombardo said in a statement to the Review-Journal. “The prospect of bringing new jobs, more economic development and a historic MLB franchise to Las Vegas is exciting on many levels.

☆ NCAA star Angel Reese says playing at LSU is more lucrative than the WNBA—and she wants to splurge on a Mercedes-Benz
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

NCAA basketball champion Angel Reese isn't fast-tracking her college career, even if she had the option to go pro. "I'm in no rush to go to the league," Reese, 20, recently told the "I Am Athlete" podcast. That's more than any other college basketball player, the report says. Reese knows exactly what she wants to spend her newly gained fortune on, too: a Mercedes-Benz, she said on the podcast. "My first year [in college], I was just taking money," Reese said.

[1/3] Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc. CEO Renee Wilm and Terry Miller of Miller Project Management give a tour of the Las Vegas Grand Prix paddock construction site, in Paradise, Nevada, U.S., March 3, 2023. "We think this is going to the biggest sports and entertainment event of the year," Renee Wilm, the CEO of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, told Reuters. "There is no better way for Las Vegas to draw the attention of our international customers than through Formula One," Steve Hill, CEO of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told Reuters. JUST THE BEGINNINGAnd the Las Vegas sports bonanza won't stop at the F1 finish line. Reporting by Rory Carroll in Las Vegas Editing by Christian RadnedgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twice WNBA MVP Parker signing with Las Vegas Aces
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 28 (Reuters) - Twice WNBA MVP Candace Parker is signing with the Las Vegas Aces, the double Olympic champion said on social media on Saturday after two seasons with hometown team Chicago Sky. "While Chicago will always be my home, my family’s home is on the west coast. To play for a championship close to home is the perfect situation for us." "I’m looking forward to continuing the journey this summer in Las Vegas," said Parker. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Women athletes now have their own sports network
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Kaitlin Balasaygun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The first-ever network to focus on female athletes, the Women's Sports Network, launched Wednesday, offering 24/7 streaming of original programming, competitions, documentaries and a daily studio show "Game On." The Women's Sports Network is a free, ad-supported network featured on streaming services including Amazon.com 's Freevee, Fox Corp .'s FuboTV and Tubi, along with smart TVs. The Women's Sports Network has partnerships with the Women's National Basketball Association, Women's Football Alliance, Ladies Professional Golf Association, U.S. Female athletes at the collegiate level are also proving to be winners in the NIL era, garnering deals with brands including Nike now that college athletes can be paid for their name, image and likeness. "The Women's Sports Network is exactly what athletes, fans and sponsors have been asking for," Mollie Marcoux Samaan, commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, said in a release announcing the network launch.

☆ Liz Mills: How coach became the first woman to lead a men's basketball team in an international tournament
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Alasdair Howorth | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

But as the first woman to coach a men’s national team at a major FIBA tournament, Liz Mills must think of everything – even what she wears. Like many of us when watching a sports team, Mills thought that she could do better; but unlike most of us, she did something about it. Members of the network have experienced discrimination of all kinds, particularly those working in the men’s game. AS Salé was the first job in men's basketball that Mills was paid for. “I want to be the first woman to coach at the World Cup as a head coach of an African [men’s] team,” she asserts.

☆ The Las Vegas Aces Win First WNBA Title
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Rachel Bachman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A’ja Wilson, No. 22, and the Las Vegas Aces celebrate after winning the WNBA championship against the Connecticut Sun. The Las Vegas Aces beat the Connecticut Sun on Sunday to clinch their first WNBA title and secure the city its first championship in a major professional team sport. Riquna Williams came off the bench to give the Aces the late lead in the sometimes-sloppy game at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena as Las Vegas won 78-71 in Game 4 to take the best-of-five series 3-1.

Search resuls for: "Las Vegas Aces"

21 mentions found