Aces spend long day in airport before arriving on East Coast

Chelsea Gray awoke Saturday astatine astir 4:30 a.m., anxiously anticipating a agelong time of travel.

But she didn’t expect waiting 2 hours for her luggage astatine a New Jersey airport. Or sitting done a five-hour autobus thrust to Uncasville, Connecticut. Or getting meal astatine 10:30 p.m.

From a Walmart.

“We were talking like, ‘This travel was longer than erstwhile we spell overseas,’” the Aces constituent defender said. “This is the speech we’ve been having, and there’s been resistance. (Saturday) we could person astir apt flown charter if we were capable to.”

Because the WNBA’s corporate bargaining statement bars the usage of charter flights, the Aces experienced the benignant of exhaustive time of question that world-class athletes are not usually subjected to. Hurricane Henri besides analyzable matters arsenic it ravages the Northeastern portion of the United States, forcing the Aces to question Saturday alternatively of Sunday.

As a result, the Aces did not signifier either time earlier yet returning to the tribunal Monday to hole for Tuesday’s crippled against the Connecticut Sun.

“We’ve been stuck successful the airdrome for hours. We’ve had to cancel flights before,” said Gray, recalling different issues with question during her career. “There’s been a small spot of delay. … Like, let’s conscionable hop connected the level if it’s disposable for us.”

These kinds of arduous trips are not uncommon for WNBA players, who often alert charter successful college. The Aces experienced 1 of the league’s astir notorious question debacles successful 2018, ultimately resulting successful the cancellation of a important crippled against the Washington Mystics — a archetypal successful WNBA history.

The corporate bargaining agreement, ratified by the league and the players’ national successful January 2020, improved conditions for players connected commercialized flights. But it intelligibly hasn’t eliminated the problems teams face.

“You conscionable person to rotation with the punches,” said Aces rookie defender Destiny Slocum, who traveled via charter portion playing assemblage hoops astatine Maryland and Arkansas. “There’s lone truthful overmuch we tin do, but the speech is there. It’s important that we person it, but besides staying ace focused connected our extremity and besides what we person near successful the season.”

The Aces statesman their three-game travel against the Sun, who are 2-0 against Las Vegas. Trips to Atlanta and Indiana travel earlier a instrumentality to Las Vegas.

Contact newsman Sam Gordon astatine sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon connected Twitter.