It’s been an interesting two weeks for the Last Vegas Aces. First, they announced the departure of general manager Natalie Williams and on Sunday it was announced that they lost another assistant coach as the Chicago Sky named Tyler Marsh as their new head coach.
Aces guard Chelsea Gray and Aces president Nikki Fargas talked about the recent changes with the team.
“All new staff, right? It’s different, man,” said Gray. “I don’t think I’ve fully taken it all in that he’s not going to be here. Like, I still have to talk to him almost every day and seeing him today. So it’s weird. I don’t know. It’s probably going to take me some time to get used to it.
Gray knows that Marsh moving on is just part of the game and the success of the franchise.
“It’s a testament to our experience,” Gray said. Of course, people are going to want the coaches that’s been a part of two of the last three years’ championships, right? I didn’t expect it to happen this fast. I wasn’t hoping it was happening this fast, but I’m excited. I’m excited for them. Happy. But it goes to like championship pedigree in mind, being around champions and going deep in the playoffs.”
Fargas seems to echo Gray sentiments about the team departures.
“One of the things I will say about our organization is that we love for us to bring and give people opportunity,” she said. “We’re so excited about the path that is in front of everyone. And Natalie Nakasi getting a head coaching job, Tyler Marsh getting a head coaching job. All of those things, again, give credit to (head coach) Becky Hammond. And allowing them. To be able to be in that space where they can learn and grow, and then now they’re able to run their own programs.”
She also talked about the departure of long-time general manager Natalie Williams and the restructuring of the organization.
“At this time, that’s what we’re doing. We’re just going to take our time to look at what the restructuring of it will look like. We’re going to evaluate what the future of this organization needs to look like,” she said.
As far as bringing in new coaching candidates, Fargas said the emphasis will be on bringing in quality candidates
“The communication has been really just about how do we look to bring in quality candidates. Bring in quality coaches. Those two will be very hard to replace, but we wish them nothing but the best,” she said.
“When you are talking to a Becky Hammond, she’s going to look for somebody that’s going to come in here and challenge her, and Charlene Thomas-Swinson, who’s still with us, and also challenge the players.”
Paul DelosSantos also contributed to this story.
