‘Three left feet’: Mark Davis’ championship grooving, explained

Mark Davis had never seen a WNBA game in person until the Aces moved to Las Vegas in 2018. But last week, he was grooving it up on the court as the owner of back-to-back league champions.

It’s been some fancy footwork for Davis. The Aces owner won’t make anyone forget Deney Terrio, but he stepped up after the Aces beat the New York Liberty last Wednesday to win the WNBA title.

“I have three left feet,” Davis allowed in a phone chat Tuesday afternoon. “Normally, nothing would get me to dance. But the team was happy, everything was going so great. It was just a special moment.”

Davis’ routine was something akin to the Hustle, then he rolled a little and attempted to “raise the roof.” Asked later in text if he would ever consider competing on “Dancing With the Stars,” Davis responded, “(Expletive) NO!!!” followed by the emoji with the halo.

The owner and the team closed out their extended victory party at Resorts World on Monday night, following its second victory parade on the Strip in as many years. Davis joined the team’s post-parade celebration at Eight Cigar Lounge, along with team president Nikki Fargas and players Candace Parker, Jackie Young, Alysha Clark and Chelsea Gray. The team earlier dined at Fuhu.

Several Aces took over Drai’s Nightclub at The Cromwell on Friday, and Tao at The Venetian and Jewel Nightclub at Aria in their victory sweep.

Davis was a court-side VIP ticket-holder when the Aces opened at then Mandalay Bay Event Center (Michelob Ultra Arena, today) five years ago. He’d followed the league in Southern and Northern California, as the Sparks were founded in L.A. in 1997, and the Monarchs — owned by the Maloof family — won a championship in Sacramento in 2005.

Davis hadn’t attended a game until the Aces moved to town. He was seated next to MGM Resorts International President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle, in the team’s inaugural season. The Raiders’ owner chided Hornbuckle about the team’s salaries.

“I just kept telling him he had to pay the women more money,” Davis recalled “And finally, after enough hounding, he said, ‘If you want them to be paid more money, you pay ‘em. Buy the team.’ ”

Davis wasn’t bluffing. He took over in January 2021. Two years later, he’s a dancing machine with a pair of WNBA trophies serving as disco balls.

“They called me out,” Davis said, “and I came through for them, because they came through for me.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.