On a team of superheroes, Chelsea Gray is like Iron Man. WiltonReports explains ⬇️
in the 2022 Commissioner’s Cup, Chelsea Gray huddled around her teammates at halfcourt inside Wintrust Arena. Gray assembled a supreme 19-point, five-assist performance to go along with Jackie Young’s and Kelsey Plum’s double-digit production and A’ja Wilson’s massive double-double outing that included 17 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks.
But as Gray sat between Wilson and Plum with a bottle of McBride Sisters Black Girl Magic sparkling wine on the table after the Commissioner’s Cup, her teammates provided her with proverbial flowers. “She’s the best point guard in the world … the clutchest player in the WNBA … consistently makes big plays … she’s been leading our team the whole season,” Plum said.
Laimbeer favored an old-school approach to the game with two frontcourt players on the floor for nearly every possession and playing through the interior. Hammon, on the other hand, established a more modern offensive game plan that features a five-out, wide-open scheme, giving her players more freedom and space to fully display their talents on the hardwood. It gave players like Wilson, who had never contested a three-pointer under Laimbeer, the chance to add long-range jumpers to her arsenal.
But if Gray’s eagerness to be great and to make others around her exceptional are not enough, her wife, Tipesa, who fits into the Pepper Potts role well, knows exactly what to say to get Chelsea in motion. Ever since the two met through a mutual friend during Chelsea’s days at Duke, the gifted leader and her wife–a former four-year basketball player at Long Beach State—talk through nearly all of their plans together. In fact, it was Tipesa who challenged Chelsea to go to Las Vegas.
The win secured the Aces the No. 1 seed in this year’s playoffs. But, it also added another test to their strength heading into the postseason. Three days prior had seen a different result on Vegas’s side of the stat sheet in a win against the Sky when Plum and Young shone and Wilson and Gray took more of a backseat. “Everyone has their moments to impact a game,” Plum says. “It’s not the same person every single night. Any of us can get hot on any given night.