Aces guard Tiffany Hayes earns WNBA Sixth Player of the Year after coming out of retirement

Las Vegas Aces guard Tiffany Hayes is the 2024 WNBA Sixth Player of the Year, the league announced Friday. Hayes has had a breakout year off the bench in Las Vegas, just months after coming out of retirement to join the Aces.

Hayes averaged 9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for the Aces this season, as well as 0.8 steals per game. The 35-year-old guard played an averaged of 21:27 minutes per game, but made a significant impact for the Aces off the bench.

Last December, Hayes announced her retirement from the WNBA after 11 years in the league. Hayes spent 10 seasons with the Atlanta Dream after being drafted by the team in 2012 out of UConn. She then joined the Connecticut Sun in 2023, starting all 40 games in Connecticut before announcing that she was done with the WNBA.

The Aces pulled her out of retirement in May, signing the veteran guard with the hopes of making a third straight title run. Hayes holds the fourth highest points per game on a stacked Las Vegas squad.

Hayes finished first in Sixth Player of the Year award with 38 of the 67 total votes. New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich finished in second with 21 votes.

This marks the fifth time in six seasons that an Aces player has won the Sixth Player award. Alysha Clark took it home last year, while Kelsey Plum earned the honor in 2021. Dearica Hamby won the award two years in a row, in 2019 and 2020, when she was playing for Las Vegas.

The Aces play the Liberty at home on Friday for the third game of the semifinals. Las Vegas is currently down 2-0 in the best-of-five series, making Friday’s matchup a win-or-go-home game.