Chelsea Gray turns All-Star snub into motivation, and maybe a WNBA title | Opinion

That All-Star snub is about to sting a whole lot less.

Chelsea Gray continued her scorched-earth tear through the playoffs Tuesday night, bringing the Las Vegas Aces within one game of their first-ever WNBA championship. For the sixth time in eight playoff games, Gray finished with 20-plus points.

Dished out eight assists in the 85-71 win against the Connecticut Sun, too.

Win on Thursday night in Connecticut, and Gray will have the ultimate clap back to all those who didn’t think she was All-Star material.

"People," Kelsey Plum said last week when someone on Twitter brought up Gray's snub, "are idiots."

Being told you're not considered one of the league's best is going to be a blow to any professional athlete's pride. But it was even more painful for Gray, who had to watch the rest of Las Vegas' starting lineup turn the All-Star Game in Chicago into a team off-site.

Becky Hammon coached one of the teams. A’ja Wilson was one of the captains and  Plum and Jackie Young were also named starters. Dearica Hamby was a reserve.

Instead of sulking, Gray said she spent the All-Star break with her younger brother and his fiancee. She took a break from basketball, social media, everything.

Then, when she'd reset, she went back to work. With a vengeance.

"I got hungrier, got in even better shape," Gray said. "I was in the gym, locked into film, just went to another level mentally. I let my work ethic bring it along.

"And we’ve been working," she added. "We shoot after practice, shoot after shootaround. Work is behind it."

The result is one of the finest postseason performances in any league.

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Gray is averaging 28.4 points since the semifinals began, including a monster 31-point, 10-assist and six-rebound performance in Game 4 against the Seattle Storm that clinched Las Vegas’ trip to the Finals. And as ridiculously good as her scoring average is, her shooting percentage -- almost 60.5% -- is even better.

Gray is, simply, a difference maker. In every minute and every facet of the game.

With Connecticut containing her in the first half -- or containing her as much as you can contain Chelsea Gray -- she focused on feeding her teammates. She had six of her eight assists in the first half, one more than the rest of the Aces combined in the first 20 minutes.

There was her sweet, no-look dish to Wilson beneath the basket that brought the Aces bench to its feet. There was the pass that set up a 3-pointer from Plum, who broke out of her shooting slump in a big way Tuesday night.

"It's about the bigger picture," Gray said. "There's moments in the game where I do not have the ball in my hands. But I'm orchestrating or calling something just because I see it in a different view.

"It's the little details that make the difference on how we can get an easy touch, how we can get an easy score, defensively how we can make it difficult."

Or, as Hammon put it, "Chelsea Gray is about the smartest basketball player I’ve ever been around. Her IQ is ridiculous."

Gray being Gray, however, she was eventually going to find her shot.

Lost in her dazzling stats is how physically tough and relentless Gray is. It's not simply that she can knock down shots. She can knock them down with a hand in her face, while she's getting shoved.

She even drained a 3 in the fourth quarter while Alyssa Thomas, who has 3 inches and 15 pounds on Gray, was flying at her.

"I’ve said this a few times: There are a ton of really talented players in this league that make open shots. Chelsea Gray makes contested shots," Connecticut coach Curt Miller said. "She makes incredibly difficult, contested shots. It’s a skill that she can be guarded and closed out on and have a hand in her face ... and she can make those kind of shots.

"It’s just really separating her right now."

Best of all, Gray is having a blast doing it. After that collision with Thomas on the 3 sent her spilling to the floor, Gray grinned and shimmied as she sat, looking like a kid on a Sit N' Spin.

The real fun, however, will come with one more win.

"We've been a good road team this year, all year, so might as well go try and win on the road," Gray said.

An All-Star spot would have been nice. A title will be so much better.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Las Vegas Aces win WNBA Finals Game 2 behind Chelsea Gray's big effort