Becky Hammon Gushed About Breanna Stewart. Her Postgame Honesty Was Refreshing.

Becky Hammon just lost a championship game. And she still couldn’t stop praising the woman who beat her.

The Las Vegas Aces fell 93-85 to the New York Liberty in the Commissioner’s Cup final Tuesday night. It was a tight game that got away from Vegas in the fourth quarter. But Hammon, never one for hollow coachspeak, used her postgame press conference to do something you don’t see every day. She sang the other team’s praises. Loudly.

“I’m always going to stomp for A’ja,” Hammon said, referring to her own injured star A’ja Wilson, who sat out with an ankle issue. “But Stewie, I could be effusive about that woman in the sense of how good I think she is. She’s just a winner.”

Breanna Stewart was exactly that. She finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. She won Commissioner’s Cup MVP for the second time, and became the first player in WNBA history to win three Cup titles. Just another night at the office for Stewie.

Hammon wasn’t done. She also had words for Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty point guard who iced the game with a cold-blooded three with under a minute left.

“Her game never takes me by surprise,” Hammon said. “She’s too good, and by the way, I don’t know if anybody’s noticed in this crowd, she likes big moments and big shots.”

Ionescu dropped 26 points, five rebounds and five assists. It was only her ninth game of the year after a back injury sidelined her for chunks of the season. So yeah, she looked fresh. And dangerous.

What This Loss Means for the Aces

Nobody in the Vegas locker room is hitting the panic button. The Aces are 14-5 and sitting at No. 2 in the league standings. They’re still one of the scariest teams in the WNBA. But losing a showcase game like this — on a neutral floor, with the Liberty looking this connected — is a reminder that the road back to a title won’t be easy.

The good news? They’ll almost certainly get another shot at New York in the playoffs. And Wilson will be back.

Next up for the Aces: a home game against the Chicago Sky on July 3 at 10 p.m. ET. Expect them to be in a mood.