What to know as Aces, Mercury begin WNBA Finals showdown

They'll be on opposing teams when the WNBA Finals begin on Friday but coaches Becky Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces and Nate Tibbets of the Phoenix Mercury have one thing in common: childhoods in South Dakota.

"We're a very small state, so one thing I think people sleep on is the basketball in South Dakota," Hammon said. "Mike Miller is another South Dakota guy. Eric Piatkowski. ... Mark Ellis played Major League Baseball. We were in the same graduating class. That's crazy to have two professional athletes in a school that size in a state that size. So that's what we do. We do outdoors and sports."

Hammon played against a team coached by Tibbets' father, Fred, when she was in high school. Fred Tibbets was one of the most successful high school coaches in the state's history, winning 111 games in a row at one point.

Although they are the same age, the two didn't really know each other until both got jobs in the NBA as assistant coaches. Hammon was with the Spurs, and Tibbets with the Cavaliers, Trail Blazers and Magic.

In the COVID year that was played in a bubble in Florida, the South Dakota pair got friendly as their teams were staying in the same hotel. They frequently had pickleball games.

"When I came to this league, we shared an agent and so I reached out to her, and she's been absolutely awesome ever since I took the job," Tibbets said. "South Dakota is one of those places. There's not a lot of us, right? I've never met anyone from South Dakota who didn't like her. To me, South Dakota is a special place in that people support each other."

Here are some other things to know heading into the Finals.

The Aces have a chance to win a third title in four years, which would make them the second team to accomplish that feat.