Phoenix Mercury's Sami Whitcomb, left, and DeWanna Bonner celebrate after winning Game 4 of a WNBA semifinals against the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Samantha Chow)

PHOENIX (AP) — It’s a typical day for the Phoenix Mercury at their recently built, $100 million downtown practice facility, with players, coaches and support staff making the final preparations for their surprise trip to the WNBA Finals.

The 58,000-square-foot complex has everything a team needs to be successful — two full-size courts, a weight room and a team meeting room with theater-style seating. It opened last year, around the same time the franchise hosted the league’s All-Star game.

This — owner Mat Ishbia says — is the future of the WNBA.

“I don’t want this to be a competitive advantage,” Ishbia said. “I want everyone else to do the same thing.”

As the WNBA enters an era of increased exposure and popularity, the Mercury are one of the league’s crown jewels. The proud franchise has been to the Finals six times since its inception in 1997, winning championships in 2007, 2009 and 2014.

Phoenix will get a chance to add a fourth title to its resume in the coming weeks: The Mercury face the Las Vegas Aces in the best-of-seven Finals starting with Game 1 on Friday in Las Vegas.

Ishbia bought the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the Mercury for roughly $4 billion, finalizing the deal in early 2023. Since then, he’s poured money into both teams and his investment into the Mercury has paid off quickly.

The 45-year-old Ishbia sat courtside for the team’s Game 3 win over the Minnesota Lynx in the semifinals, taking in the raucous atmosphere of nearly 16,000 fans at PHX Arena.

“This matters a lot to me and our organization,” Ishbia said. “We care. And the franchise that cares the most usually wins the most.”

The Mercury weren’t supposed to be this good this quickly, after losing franchise legends Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner during the offseason. Taurasi retired after a stellar 20-year career while Griner left in free agency for the Atlanta Dream.

But second-year coach Nate Tibbetts was able to rebuild the roster in a hurry, adding veterans like Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Satou Sabally to join holdovers like Kahleah Copper and Natasha Mack.

The Mercury finished with a 27-17 record to earn the No. 4 seed in the playoffs before knocking off the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty in the first round and the top-seeded Lynx in the second round.