(Photo credit: Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

LAS VEGAS -- In an era of women's basketball largely defined by new blood, the WNBA Finals will feature two familiar franchises in the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury that are no strangers to collecting hardware.

However, they were no lock to reach this year's finals, a best-of-seven series beginning on Friday. In fact, for both teams, it was anything but.

Seeking a third championship in four seasons, the Aces are led by a trio of stars headlined by four-time league MVP A'ja Wilson. Alongside Wilson is perhaps the W's best two-way guard, Jackie Young, as well as a three-time champion nicknamed the 'Point Gawd' in Chelsea Gray.

A third title in four years would cement this Aces group as one of the great teams in the sport's history. But the last two seasons have been a series of trials and tribulations as the franchise has fought to remain atop a league that has been rapidly changing around it.

In 2024, a season after winning a second straight title, the Aces finished fourth in the regular-season standings and were routed by the eventual champion New York Liberty in the semifinals. Vegas shook up its roster as a result, sending star Kelsey Plum to Los Angeles in a three-team deal that brought former scoring champion Jewell Loyd to Vegas from Seattle.

For the first few months of the season, it seemed like the Aces' experiment was a failure. Las Vegas struggled to find a rhythm while fighting to stay above .500, and it felt like emerging powers such as New York, Minnesota, Indiana and Phoenix had passed them by. Even Wilson was discounted and put aside in MVP chatter for much of the season.

After a 53-point loss to Minnesota pushed the Aces to 14-14 on Aug. 2, Wilson rallied the group with a direct call-to-action, and they ripped off 16 straight wins to finish the regular season 30-14 with the No. 2 seed in tow.

'Through that adversity, we got tighter,' Gray said. 'You can't really fake trust. In those hard times, I think the best thing that came out of that was the trust factor. We've had some uncomfortable moments this season. I think that's what made us a lot better.'

Meanwhile in Phoenix, general manager Nick U'Ren and coach Nate Tibbets were quietly crafting a contender. After losing a couple of perennial All-Stars -- guard Diana Taurasi retired and center Brittney Griner left for Atlanta -- the Mercury were tasked with rebuilding around star forward Kahleah Copper. The speed at which they managed to do so was blinding.

Phoenix completed a multi-team deal that landed perennial MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun and 2023 All-WNBA first-teamer Satou Sabally from the Dallas Wings. While Minnesota and New York were commanding the headlines, the Mercury were establishing themselves as the team that would send both those favorites packing in the postseason.

Despite their consistency, even amid injury struggles, the Mercury were consistently overlooked by national media. They have won three league championships in their history, the most recent in 2014.

'I've been saying since training camp we were going to the finals,' Thomas said. 'We don't care about people's opinions. We've stuck together all season. We're going to go out there and play our basketball and fight every game.'

The Mercury earned the No. 4 seed with a 27-17 record, drawing the Liberty in the first round. Star forward Breanna Stewart's knee injury in a Game 1 win changed the complexion of the series, and Phoenix managed to overcome a 30-point effort from Stewart to win Game 3 and take the series.

Phoenix's semifinal series win over the No. 1 seed Lynx was more of a statement, but the perception of that win also was impacted by injury, as MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier went down for the series with an ankle injury in Game 3. Phoenix was well on its way to securing a 2-1 series lead before Collier was hurt and went on to win Game 4 to advance to the finals.

Thomas has continued to power the Mercury by averaging 18.6 points, 9.1 assists and 8.4 rebounds in the playoffs. For the Aces, Wilson has posted 26.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 2.6 steals per game.

--Will Despart, Field Level Media