Las Vegas Aces general manager Natalie Williams, who helped build WNBA championship teams in 2022 and 2023, will not have her contract renewed, the team announced Saturday.
Williams, 53, was hired in April 2022 and enjoyed immediate success. This season, the Aces finished fourth in the regular-season standings at 27-13, five games behind the top-seeded and eventual league champion New York Liberty. Las Vegas swept the Seattle Storm in two games in the first playoff round, then fell to the Liberty three games to one in the semifinals.
“It has been a joy and honor to serve as General Manager of the Las Vegas Aces,” Williams said in a statement. “Winning two WNBA Championships with this incredible group of players and staff has been a dream come true. I want to thank Mark Davis and the Aces Organization for the incredible opportunity to help lead this franchise. I love the WNBA, and it has been wonderful watching the growth of the game. I’m looking forward to what lies ahead.”
Williams had a stellar playing career and was a four-time All-Star and three-time All-WNBA first-team selection with the Utah Starzz (1999-2002) and Indiana Fever (2003-05).
“We are incredibly grateful for Natalie’s invaluable efforts in helping build the Aces into the premier franchise in the WNBA,” Aces president Nikki Fargas said in the statement which described the decision as a restructuring of the front office. “Her time with the organization extends back to the league’s formative years in Utah, and she will forever be a part of our history, having left an indelible mark as both a player and an executive. We wish the best for Natalie and her family.”
An All-American in basketball and volleyball at UCLA, Williams was on the gold-medal winning 2000 U.S. Olympic team and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
–Field Level Media