How the Las Vegas Aces Went From Newcomers to Champions with the Help of Desert Radiology

Here at Desert Radiology, we’re proud to be part of an ongoing commitment of care to the Southern Nevada community’s professional league, minor league, and collegiate sports teams. Our practice has an established partnership with the UNLV athletic department, and we are honored to provide diagnostic care to the Las Vegas Lights FC, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Las Vegas 51s, Henderson Silver Knights, NBA G League Ignite, Vegas Knight Hawks and the Las Vegas Aces. Since February 1 is National Girls & Women in Sports Day, the Desert Radiology team would like to take this opportunity to highlight the history of the Las Vegas Aces and touch on how their strength and tenacity led them to making Las Vegas history last year.

The Las Vegas Aces, formerly known as the Utah Starzz, was originally founded in Salt Lake City, Utah before the league’s inaugural season in 1997. The team moved to San Antonio, Texas in 2003, becoming the San Antonio Silver Stars, later shortening their name to the San Antonio Stars in 2014. After 15 years in Texas and making the Conference Championship semifinals five times and the Conference Championship finals twice, they relocated once more to Las Vegas in 2018 — officially taking up the name the Las Vegas Aces.

Shortly after their Las Vegas debut, Desert Radiology became the official imaging partner of the Las Vegas Aces, providing them with MRI’s, X-Rays, CT scans, and other diagnostic services as needed. The Las Vegas Aces would go on to play that season and wouldn’t qualify for the 2018 Conference Championships during their inaugural year in Vegas; however, things would change the following year when they would not only qualify for the 2019 Conference championships but also make the finals before losing to the Washington Mystics.

The Las Vegas Aces were determined to keep the momentum from their previous season going, once again making the 2020 Conference finals and defeating the Connecticut Sun for their first Conference championship win since becoming the Las Vegas Aces. The Aces would also make a strong showing in the 2020 WNBA Champion season, going on to make the finals where they were defeated by the Seattle Storm three games to none. Although the sweep may have come as a setback, the Las Vegas Aces rebounded in the 2021 Conference season, making the finals once more and narrowly losing to the Phoenix Mercury.

After four years of hard work, tenacity and continuously building momentum from their strong placements, the Las Vegas Aces would make Las Vegas history on September 18, 2022, by becoming the first professional major sports team to win a championship for Las Vegas, defeating the Connecticut Sun three games to one with a 78-71 record in the final game of the WNBA Championship series. The game not only marked their first WNBA championship win since their 1997 debut but also validated the strength and determination they had built up since relocating to Las Vegas.

Today, the Las Vegas Aces are training for the 2023 Conference season and are getting ready to defend their championship title from the competition. As the Aces prepare for the start of the new season, Desert Radiology is standing by to provide the quality diagnostic care our practice is known for. The sponsorships we have with local athletic teams are a testament to our ongoing commitment to supporting a healthy Southern Nevada community, and we’ll be here to provide each of them with the best care in the Las Vegas Valley so they can focus on winning championships each year.