Today’s Top Read
WGRamirez.com is back—and just getting started. Join Willie G for Southern Nevada sports coverage, compelling stories and honest conversations about mental health. From the biggest games to the battles we face beyond them, next chapter has a purpose: Because every conversation matters. Welcome back.
OTHER HEADLINES
WGRamirez.com is back—and just getting started. Join Willie G for Southern Nevada sports coverage, compelling stories and honest conversations about mental health. From the biggest games to the battles we face beyond them, next chapter has a purpose: Because every conversation matters. Welcome back.
After covering A’ja Wilson since her rookie season, I know the respect she deserves. But in a heated playoff moment, Wilson crossed a line that created an unnecessary risk for herself, her teammates and the Aces’ championship hopes.
Three championships. Four years. One constant: A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young. Different supporting casts, same championship core. Fueled by trust, pressure and greatness, the Aces’ Big Three aren’t done building their legacy.
A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart opened the playoffs with a reminder of their greatness. If both lead their teams through the bracket, another Finals showdown could add a new chapter to their rivalry.
A’ja Wilson calls Breanna Stewart a friend and a rival who demands her best every possession. Years of competition have deepened Wilson’s respect for Stewie’s work, consistency and impact on the WNBA.
Breanna Stewart sees more than a rival in A’ja Wilson. Their years of competition have deepened mutual respect, with each superstar pushing the other to improve and helping elevate the WNBA.
MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS
WGRamirez.com is back—and just getting started. Join Willie G for Southern Nevada sports coverage, compelling stories and honest conversations about mental health. From the biggest games to the battles we face beyond them, next chapter has a purpose: Because every conversation matters. Welcome back.
Front office staff are taking mental health seriously for their WNBA organizations, as the narrative continues to be at the league’s forefront.
As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to close, the conversation stays vibrant in the WNBA, where rookies and veterans have made it a top narrative in order to endure a professional career.
Hailey Van Lith survived suicidal thoughts and mental health issues, and with hard work has persevered en route to becoming the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2025 WNBA Draft.
From ‘Hashtags’ to ‘Baggage’, Sports Leadership students learn realities of life by sharing their harbored throughs in a mental health essay
The WNBA is a heavy dose of reality and can certainly interfere with the elation rookies feel after achieving their dream of making it to the league. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but sustaining cerebral durability for the next four or five months is a challenge they acknowledge they're up against.
LAS VEGAS ACES
After covering A’ja Wilson since her rookie season, I know the respect she deserves. But in a heated playoff moment, Wilson crossed a line that created an unnecessary risk for herself, her teammates and the Aces’ championship hopes.
Three championships. Four years. One constant: A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young. Different supporting casts, same championship core. Fueled by trust, pressure and greatness, the Aces’ Big Three aren’t done building their legacy.
A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart opened the playoffs with a reminder of their greatness. If both lead their teams through the bracket, another Finals showdown could add a new chapter to their rivalry.
A’ja Wilson calls Breanna Stewart a friend and a rival who demands her best every possession. Years of competition have deepened Wilson’s respect for Stewie’s work, consistency and impact on the WNBA.
Breanna Stewart sees more than a rival in A’ja Wilson. Their years of competition have deepened mutual respect, with each superstar pushing the other to improve and helping elevate the WNBA.
Minnesota retains its top spot in this rankings, but Golden State makes its debut into the Top 5
The Las Vegas Aces made a major move Monday morning, acquiring NaLyssa Smith from the Dallas Wings with hopes of adding an inside presence to join A’ja Wilson and assisting on the defensive end.
OLD VEGAS SERIES
This month’s theme finds us ringin’ in the New Year talkin’ Old Vegas. I had the pleasure of talking to two gentlemen who spent the best time in Las Vegas - the 1970s and 1980s -a time where everyone felt warm and welcome and a part of a town that had less than half-million people living here. I also share my story of growing up in Las Vegas.
I spoke to a few gentlemen I have a lot of respect for and whom I appreciate for the roles they've played in my life over the years. From Billy Walters, to Don Logan, to John L. Smith, to the dee jay who is credited to introducing hip hop to Las Vegas on a grand scale, Frank Anobile. There will never be an old Las Vegas like we once had. I miss it. And I talk about it often, passionately.
Mark Rich came to Las Vegas in 1974 and worked at some of the hottest nightspots back in the day. He befriended entertainers, sports personalities, and some notorious characters who made up the underworld of Las Vegas. These days, he's enjoying life as a restaurateur. But there isn't a day that goes by that he recollects with someone what old school Vegas was about. We sat down recently to talk about his time here.
Steven Schirripa might be a well-known actor who has collected hundreds of thousands of fans after bursting on to the scene as Bobby Bacala in The Sopranos, and furthering his career as Anthony Abetemarco on Blue Bloods, but he credits the good ol' days in Las Vegas for his success. Schirripa was instrumental in keeping the Riviera a hot spot for entertainment before he embarked on his acting career. We spent a little more than an hour on a Zoom session recently and talked about many people we both knew back in the day.
CELEBRATING MOTHERS
Dearica Hamby's dedication toward her daughter, Amaya, is infectious and inspiring. She granted a private Zoom session a couple of months back, in preparation for this Mother's Day project, and it became candid, uplifting, straightforward, and nothing but smiles while talking about her lively little sidekick WNBA fans worldwide have fallen in love with when the two are splashed across social media.
On Thursday May 6, Drew Robinson stepped on to the field at Las Vegas Ballpark, defying the greatest of odds, and accomplished what some might deem a miracle. A little more than one year after surviving a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head during a suicide attempt, it was the second-best Mother's Day gift Renee Robinson could have asked for.
Dearica Hamby's dedication toward her daughter, Amaya, is infectious and inspiring. She granted a private Zoom session a couple of months back, in preparation for this Mother's Day project, and it became candid, uplifting, straightforward, and nothing but smiles while talking about her lively little sidekick WNBA fans worldwide have fallen in love with when the two are splashed across social media.
Arizona basketball coach Adia Barnes is an inspiration to many young women, as a coach, mentor and mother of two. Adia shared some time with WGRamirez.com, and discussed the normalcy of juggling of being full-time collegiate basketball coach and full-time mother.
HONORING PROUD FATHERS
Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves has become a fan favorite since arriving in 2018. Fans of all ages love him across the Southern Nevada. At home, he’s as big a fan of his kids, as they are of their father. Ryan talked to WGRamirez.com about how becoming a father has changed his life.
Golden Knights wives Tasha Stephenson, l, and Melissa Smith hold their newborns, Ford and Isla, respectively, donning personalized baby tops as they watch their fathers, Chandler and Reilly, play recently at T-Mobile Arena.
What father wouldn’t be proud of a child who lays out the blueprint of a dream - a detailed five-year plan - and then executes it to perfection? Jordin Ramirez’s #2020Vision came true in November when he received the keys to a facility that will become his perFIcT gym.
Lindy La Rocque grew up in a basketball gym, watching her father, Al, turn Las Vegas’ Durango High School into a basketball powerhouse during the 1990s. Now retired, Al said it’s been a dream come true to have his daughter return home to coach the UNLV Lady Rebels.
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