A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum aren’t thrilled with the 2023 WNBA schedule.
The Las Vegas Aces stars are excited about the expanded 40-game schedule and the broadcast schedule that comes with it, but both expressed frustration that their Aces are on the road for their first two games.
“We open up on the road the first two games,” Plum told Yahoo Sports. “I don’t know if champs usually do that.”
The Aces won the WNBA title in 2022, but their schedule doesn’t seem to reflect that. The Minnesota Lynx were the last reigning champion (2014) to open on the road, while the other winners all started their seasons at home.
How the hell the champs play on the road the first couple of games of the season …😒😐
— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) December 1, 2022
“How the hell the champs play on the road the first couple of games of the season…” Wilson tweeted.
Las Vegas will play its first two games on the road, and then follow those contests with a back-to-back at home. The latter three games in that stretch take place over four days in two cities.
“Someone looked at this schedule — not saying any names — but someone looked at this schedule and said, ‘How can we screw over the Aces?’” she told Yahoo Sports. “Well, they tried. We’ll see if it works.
“Yeah, I think that for me I looked at it, I just smiled, I looked at it as a great challenge, a great opportunity.”