Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon had already seen what Mai Yamamoto could do before the Japanese guard ever put on an Aces uniform.
She saw it from the opposing bench.
Yamamoto scored 24 points and made seven 3-pointers for Japan in an April 26 preseason exhibition against Las Vegas, giving Hammon and the Aces a firsthand look at the shooting, pace and energy she would eventually bring to their own bench.
Now Hammon sees it every day.
“She gives us that motor and that little burst of energy — that Energizer Bunny, if you will — who gets out there and makes things happen,” Hammon said Tuesday ahead of the Aces’ matchup with Atlanta at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
Yamamoto’s role has steadily expanded since joining the Aces.
The 26-year-old guard from Hiroshima, Japan, has appeared in six games, averaging 5.7 points and 1.5 assists in 12.3 minutes. She has made eight of her 16 3-point attempts.
Her biggest opportunity came Aug. 9 in New York, when Las Vegas rested A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray.
Yamamoto responded with 16 points and six assists in 26 minutes.
She has remained in the rotation since, playing 13 minutes in each of the Aces’ two wins over Washington before scoring six points in 17 minutes against Minnesota on Saturday.
Hammon said Yamamoto arrived with something coaches cannot always immediately give a new player: good habits.
“I love her smarts,” Hammon said. “I think she’s a super-smart basketball player.
“There are a lot of things she came in with that I didn’t have to teach. That’s a nice luxury to have. She already had really solid basketball habits when she arrived.”
More than a WNBA rookie
Yamamoto may be classified as a rookie in the WNBA, but she arrived in Las Vegas with a substantial international résumé.
Earlier this year, she averaged 15 points and 3.6 assists in five games at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup qualifying tournament in Türkiye and earned a spot on the tournament’s All-Star Five.
She also averaged 17 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists during Japan’s 2024 Olympic qualifying run and scored 17 points with five assists at the Paris Olympics.
Yamamoto has also played professionally in Japan with the Toyota Antelopes and represented her country in multiple international competitions.
“I love her energy. I love her juice and her feistiness,” Hammon said. “I love her ability to shoot. I think she gets into the paint and can spray the ball out.”
Making her minutes count
For a 5-foot-5 guard trying to establish herself in a veteran Aces rotation, those qualities matter.
Hammon said Tuesday that she wants reserve players to make it difficult for her to take them off the floor.
“It isn’t always necessarily about scoring,” Hammon said. “There are many ways to affect a basketball game.”
Yamamoto has begun doing exactly that.
She can push the pace, space the floor and give Las Vegas another ballhandler off the bench. Her 50 percent shooting from 3 has come in a small sample, but the shooting ability was already evident long before she reached the WNBA.
Now the opportunity is growing with it.
“She helps with our pace on both ends,” Hammon said. “I’ve liked seeing her role expand for us, for sure.”
Related stories
Welcome to Dice City Sports — where we provide premium, exclusive, up-to-date news and analysis surrounding the Las Vegas sports scene. Follow along on social media, and check back for new articles daily!
Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Las Vegas Aces, Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
