Chennedy Carter continues electric start with Aces in win vs. Sun
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Chennedy Carter wanted simply 5 dribbles in 5 seconds to race down the ground and eek right into a layup earlier than the third-quarter buzzer sounded in Wednesday’s matchup between her Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Sun.
It was one among a number of jaw-dropping performs the 5-foot-9 guard made in her third sport with Las Vegas, a 98-69 win in which Carter led all scorers with 27 factors, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a couple of steals in 25 minutes off the bench.
“The speed is eye-popping…especially if you haven’t really seen it or you haven’t seen it in a while,” Aces coach Becky Hammon stated. “Some of the moves she makes are crazy.”
The WNBA hasn’t seen Carter’s explosiveness in some time, as she didn’t signal with a workforce in 2025, though she did play abroad. But the Aces (2-1), who retained their championship core from final season, made waves in free company once they introduced in Carter on a one-year deal on the veteran minimal.
And if her first three video games are any indication of how the remainder of the season will go, her signing will become maybe the impactful transfer of your entire offseason.
“For me, it was like, I can help them. They can help me. This can be a dynasty,” Carter stated. “So I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to be a part of a winning organization.”
After Tuesday’s efficiency, Carter is second on the Aces in scoring at 19.7 factors per sport, behind solely four-time MVP A’ja Wilson‘s 20.
“We don’t ask too much of her,” Wilson stated. “We just ask her to do her job. And for her to be in our system and figure that out, I think, goes to show the professionalism that she truly has. And it’s been a joy to watch her grow and flourish.”
Although her expertise has been simple, Carter’s WNBA profession has been rocky. In 2021, she was suspended halfway via the season — her second with the Atlanta Dreamwho drafted her No. 4 in 2020 — due to “conduct detrimental to the team” and didn’t return the rest of the 12 months. She performed for the Sparks in 2022, and the franchise exercised her fourth-year possibility on her rookie-scale contract, however she was waived forward of the 2023 marketing campaign.
Carter didn’t signal with a workforce in 2023 and later suited up for the Sky for one season in 2024.
Carter’s electric start to the 2026 season has reminded followers why she was thought of some of the thrilling younger prospects when she entered the league. The guard credited her early success this 12 months to the match and luxury stage she already feels with the Aces, notably their sturdy group of veteran leaders, together with Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd.
“Everybody’s just really put together here,” Carter stated. “It seems like a great organization, and it’s like a family. We all have a bond. I mean, it just feels like home. We’re all well taken care of on the court, off the court.”
Carter had a sizzling start Wednesday with eight first-quarter factors to assist Las Vegas construct an early lead earlier than ending on a heater with 9 factors in the fourth quarter alone, serving to push the Aces’ benefit into the 30s. She shot 13-for-16 (1-for-2 from 3) towards the 0-3 Sun, boosting her capturing clip to 73%.
And that is all whereas she’s nonetheless working to combine into the Aces’ system. Hammon — a stickler for protection — has been on her for defensive efforts and embracing extra of the “little nuances” of the sport.
“She’s going to push me,” Carter stated. “She’s going to be hard on me, but ultimately it’s to make me better. And I’ve embraced that, being coached hard and being asked to do more, and I feel like it’s bringing the best out of me.”
There’s additionally the matter of reconciling her flashy, “wild-card” nature, as Hammon put it, with what the Aces want to perform as a collective — ideally their fourth championship in 5 years. But the coach sees that high quality as “part of [Carter’s] greatness,” and one thing she would not wish to utterly eradicate.
“I think the game is slowing down for her now,” Wilson stated. “Coming into a new system, and particularly ours, you’ve got to take a beat a little bit. And Chennedy’s game is the complete opposite. But her finding the in-between, that happy medium of ‘I can still play at my pace, but also take a beat for my teammates,’ is something that’s key, and watching her grow into that has not only helped us as a team but helped her as well.”