Chelsea Gray provides moxie, savvy to Aces’ title chase

They telephone her the Point God successful Las Vegas. A playfully divine motion to her three-level scoring, precocious pick-and-roll play and, of course, her inventive passing.

But Alana Beard has a antithetic nickname for her erstwhile teammate turned Aces constituent defender Chelsea Gray.

“I telephone her Clutchy,” said Beard, a four-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Defensive Player of the Year who won a title successful 2016 alongside Gray with the Los Angeles Sparks. “She relished those (big) moments. … We each had assurance successful her having that shot successful her hands.”

So bash the Aces.

Gray, 28, doesn’t conscionable supply Las Vegas with All-Star caliber constituent defender play. She besides provides a moxie and savvy derived from her successes connected the sport’s biggest stages. She’s the lone WNBA champion connected the roster, having won the rubric successful 2016 with the Sparks and reaching the finals again the pursuing year.

And she provides a consciousness of calm to the Aces, who look a pivotal Game 3 connected Sunday astatine the Phoenix Mercury successful the WNBA semifinals with the best-of-five bid tied 1-1.

“People look astatine her and beryllium like, ‘Oh, the things she tin bash with the hoops are amazing.’ But her enactment connected the tribunal and the mode that she calms america down, puts america astatine pace, is thing that I truly wanted to play alongside of,” said Aces teammate A’ja Wilson, who helped enlistee Gray during escaped agency.

Preparing for premier time

Gray grew up successful Manteca, California, a municipality of astir 80,000 tucked an hr southbound of Sacramento and 90 minutes eastbound of the Bay Area.

As a earthy constituent guard, she idolized Magic Johnson, Steve Nash, Jason Williams and Ticha Penicheiro, and admired the creativity with which they passed the basketball.

By inferior high, she was an established Division I prospect, securing her archetypal letter, from UNR, erstwhile she was successful eighth grade. By her elder season, she was a McDonald’s All-American with a flair for the flamboyant arsenic 1 of the champion players successful the precocious schoolhouse people of 2010.

“That was an oculus opener for each of us,” said her older brother, Javon. “She was ever playing basketball. She truly didn’t person that outside, teen life.”

Gray was courted by each the powerhouse assemblage programs, adjacent playing done a terrible enarthrosis wounded truthful her recruitment wouldn’t beryllium compromised. She wanted to play for a programme that hadn’t won a nationalist championship.

And that programme was Duke, wherever she would prima from 2010 to 2014.

She arrived connected field with an acumen truthful precocious that unsuspecting teammates wouldn’t drawback her passes. Her assemblage coach, Joanne P. McCallie, compared her to Johnson.

“Program changer,” McCallie said. “She loves the shot successful her hands, and she’s precise confident, and I would accidental that was precise instant. … The usage of her no-look, the usage of her flair, that’s the unsocial happening astir Chelsea — it serves a purpose.”

Gray promptly earned McCallie’s spot and was empowered to instrumentality power successful unit situations. Older teammates willingly deferred to Gray, whose playfully humble demeanor inactive eases those astir her.

“Chelsea knew wherever the shot should go, when, earlier that idiosyncratic was getting it knew it. And they were OK with that from the beginning.” erstwhile Blue Devils adjunct Candice M. Jackson said.

Duke ascended to No. 2 successful The Associated Press rankings. But genu injuries prematurely ended Gray’s inferior and elder seasons of 2012-13 and 2013-14, preventing her from playing successful the Final Four.

‘Clutchy’

Gray was picked No. 11 wide by the Connecticut Sun successful the 2014 WNBA draft. She missed what was expected to beryllium her rookie play recovering from genu country and debuted during the 2015 season, playing each 34 games arsenic a reserve.

Her play successful a crippled against the Sparks piqued the involvement of their erstwhile coach, Brian Agler, who traveled to Europe that offseason to ticker her play abroad. He introduced himself aft that peculiar crippled and traded for her earlier the 2016 season, thereby changing the trajectory of her career.

In Los Angeles, Gray was abruptly surrounded by a formed that included Beard, Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike — 3 of the astir esteemed and accomplished players successful WNBA history. The corporate helped rise her nonrecreational standard, and she adapted to the title caliber civilization that permeated the franchise.

Gray was a reserve again that season, backing up Kristi Toliver arsenic the Sparks rolled to the second-best grounds successful the WNBA. But down the scenes, Agler was relentless successful the mode helium coached Gray during practices successful an effort to assistance her hone her prodigious talent.

Agler said helium saw “greatness” successful Gray and sought to destruct immoderate of the hazard that her benignant often incorporated. He besides admired the flair and creativity with which she played. But there’s a clip and spot for it.

And it’s usually not successful crunch time.

She was receptive and earned the spot of her manager and teammates. With the title connected the enactment successful Game 5 of the WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx, Agler called connected Gray to resuscitate an ailing offense.

She responded by scoring 11 consecutive points during the 3rd and 4th quarters to forestall Minnesota from pulling distant and yet clinch her archetypal WNBA championship.

“It was astonishing however a radical of radical and truthful galore antithetic personalities travel unneurotic for 1 communal purpose,” Gray said. “I was capable to physique and conscionable learn, beryllium capable to travel present to Vegas to springiness what I learned.”

Gray blossomed successful Los Angeles the pursuing season, with Toliver’s departure to Washington paving the mode for her to presume the relation arsenic the franchise’s starting constituent guard. The veterans willfully deferred to her, trusting her with the shot successful important moments.

She continued to thrive successful Los Angeles, averaging 14.6 points and 5.2 assists portion shooting 46.1 percent from the tract successful 4 years arsenic a starter.

Gray visited Las Vegas past twelvemonth arsenic a restricted escaped cause earlier committing this twelvemonth to play for the Aces, who sought an upgrade astatine the constituent aft losing past twelvemonth successful the WNBA Finals.

“She’s been determination and done that. Just the acquisition and having much large players connected our squad is what we’re trying to get accomplished,” Aces manager Bill Laimbeer said. “She’s a big-shot player.”

Including a mates this season.

Laimbeer deferred to Gray down the agelong successful June against the defending champion Seattle Storm, allowing her to telephone the play that preceded her go-ahead jumper with 10.6 seconds remaining. She added different game-winning changeable in August against the Washington Mystics.

“She’s been successful these situations before,” Wilson said. “I’m gladsome that I tin stock it with idiosyncratic that’s been determination before. That’s been successful these large moments.”

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