Can the Las Vegas Aces post the WNBA’s best regular season all-time record?

08-16-2023
4 min read
NBA Entertainment

The Vegas Aces are in the running for the best regular season in WNBA history.

Currently 27-3, they are tied with the 1998 Houston Comets for the best winning percentage of all time. The Comets of course only played 30 regular season games, and the Aces have a handful of games remaining in 2023 — with the league increasing to a record-high 40 games per team this season alongside some shiny new TV deals.

The Aces have one extra game on their docket because they qualified for the Commissioner's Cup championship game, though the result does not count in the regular season standings.

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Their win percentage will be calculated out of 40 games after their season ends with Phoenix on Sept. 10.

The win percentage is the fraction of games a team has won. They are usually defined by the wins (plus ties, which count as a half-win) divided by the total number of matches played.

Calculations show the Aces need a 37-3 record to hit a .925 win percentage, bringing them above the defunct Houston team's long-standing .900 mark. Anything less results in a tie or second-place.

That means they need to win all of their next 10 games to officially top the Comets and go down in history as the winningest WNBA team in the 27-year history of the league.

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Here's what you need to know about the Aces' most recent breakout season.

Top 10 WNBA teams based on winning percentage

Below are the top 10 WNBA teams since 1997 based on winning percentages.

The number of games varies for each season, gradually increasing as the league grew older and expanded. The highest number of games played in a season before 2023's record 40 was 36 in 2022. The Aces steamrolled that season, scoring the Commissioner's Cup and WNBA Finals — though their winning percentage was on the lower end at .722 (26-10).

It's worth noting that 2020 has only 22 recorded games per team because of the pandemic-shortened season. Most seasons sat at a baseline of 34 games, dating back two decades to 2003.

Season Team GP Wins Losses Win %
1998 Houston Comets 30 27 3 .900
2023* Las Vegas Aces 30 27 3 .897
2001 Los Angeles Sparks 32 28 4 .875
2000 Los Angeles Sparks 32 28 4 .875
2014 Phoenix Mercury 34 29 5 .853
2016 Minnesota Lynx 34 28 6 .824
2010 Seattle Storm 34 28 6 .824
2020 Las Vegas Aces 22 18 4 .818
2021 Connecticut Sun 32 26 6 .813
1999 Houston Comets 32 26 6 .813

*active season, subject to change

Las Vegas Aces schedule of remaining games

Date Time (ET) Opponent TV channel
Thursday, Aug. 17 10 p.m. vs. New York Liberty Prime
Saturday, Aug. 19 3 p.m. vs. Los Angeles Sparks ABC
Tuesday, Aug. 22 7 p.m. @ Atlanta Dream CBS Sports
Thursday, Aug. 24 8 p.m. @ Chicago Sky NBA TV
Saturday, Aug. 26 7 p.m. @ Washington Mystics NBA TV
Monday, Aug. 28 7 p.m. @ New York Liberty ESPN2
Thursday, Aug. 31 10 p.m. vs. Washington Mystics Prime
Saturday, Sept. 2 9 p.m. vs. Seattle Storm NBA TV
Friday, Sept. 8 10 p.m. @ Phoenix Mercury Ion
Sunday, Sept. 10 3 p.m. vs. Phoenix Mercury ESPN2