WNBA All-Star weekend is taking place in Chicago on July 9-10 with a new and improved format from last year’s game that saw Arike Ogunbowale take home All-Star MVP as the WNBA All-Stars took down Team USA.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s edition of the WNBA’s showcase of the best talents in the league:
What does the weekend consist of?
This year, instead of just having the game, the WNBA has special events running on July 9 similar to the NBA All-Star weekend including a skills competition and a three-point contest.
All-stars Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty, Jonquel Jones of the Connecticut Sun, Courtney Vandersloot and Azurá Stevens of the Chicago Sky Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces, and NaLyssa Smith of the Indiana Fever will all participate in the 2022 WNBA Skills Challenge.
The skills challenge includes eight teams, each consisting of one of the designated WNBA players as well as one athlete from the Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) participating in the 2022 Nike Nationals.
The skills challenge is an obstacle course relay competition that will include dribbling, passing, shooting and agility as each team will compete head-to-head when two teams compete simultaneously.
The winner of each matchup will move to the next round, who will complete the course once more in hopes to move to the final where two teams will compete head-to-head a third time.
On top of the skills challenge, instead of taking place at half-time of the All-Star game, this year the MTN Dew 3-Point Competition will be it’s own event, headlined by defending champion Allie Quigley.
Quigley did previously say she was retiring from the competition, but with the All-Star game taking place in Chicago, the veteran will go for one more title from beyond the arc.
The current WNBA leader in made three pointers, and three-time event winner joins five other players including Plum, who holds the most made shots in the league this season with 71.
Ariel Atkins of the Washington Mystics, Atlanta’s Howard, Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm, and Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings will round out the competition.
Loyd will make a third appearance in the competition after participating in the 2018 and 2021 events, while Atkins, Howard, Ogunbowale and Plum are all participants for the first-time.
The competition will have four racks containing four official WNBA game balls and one “money ball” worth two points, as well as a fifth rack of all money balls, and two designated “DEW ZONE” pedestals with balls worth three points.
Who will be playing in the All-Star game?
Voted as the top two All-Stars by fans, Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson and Seattle’s Breanna Stewart were named captains for the game and drafted their respective teams.
As Wilson was the overall top finisher, she was awarded the first pick in the first round of starters, while Stewart made the first selection in the second round of reserves.
Making two trades to exchange four players, Team Wilson acquired the New York Liberty’s Ionescu in exchange for the Los Angeles Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike, and the teams also exchanged co-captains as Seattle’s Sue Bird joined Team Stewart and Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles joined Team Wilson.
The final rosters for the game are as follows:
Team Wilson - coached by Las Vegas’ Becky Hammon, wearing orange
Starters
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces (captain)
Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota Lynx (co-captain)
Candace Parker, Chicago Sky
Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
Reserves
Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream
Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago Sky
Brionna Jones, Connecticut Sun
Dearica Hamby, Las Vegas Aces
Natasha Howard, New York Liberty
Ariel Atkins, Washington Mystics
Team Stewart - coached by Chicago’s James Wade, wearing black
Starters
Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm (captain)
Sue Bird, Seattle Storm (co-captain)
Jonquel Jones, Connecticut Sun
Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces
Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks
Reserves
Kahleah Copper, Chicago Sky
Emma Meesseman, Chicago Sky
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings
Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix Mercury
Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm
Who won’t be in attendance this weekend?
While some coaches may believe it’s not an All-Star game without Diana Taurasi in attendance, the Phoenix great was not voted as an All-Star, but some real snubs having career best seasons will not be seen in the marquee event.
Though Indiana may not be having a stellar season, guard Kelsey Mitchell sure is, coming off a season-high 27-point performance against a dominant Chicago team. Mitchell sits fourth in the league averaging 19 points per game, a career-high for the 26-year-old, and has made 57 three-point shots this season. Mitchell has a league leading stat of games scoring at least 20 points in 15 games this season, and while the Fever’s record doesn’t reflect her dominance, she’s one of the top scoring forces in the league at the moment.
Las Vegas has more than enough representation in the event, but that doesn’t mean Chelsea Gray doesn’t deserve a spot as the “Point Gawd” has earned high praise from head coach Hammon and is a key playmaker in a strong Las Vegas offence. While multiple other Aces are already making an appearance, Gray is part of the reason as to why they have been so successful this year.
Allisha Gray is another player who has a few teammates in well deserved spots, but her development in the five years has been stellar whether she is a bench player or starter for the Wings and has been one of their best players all season. Many players with similar play and statistics were named as All-Stars, including her teammate Ogunbowale, and the gold medal winning Olympian was more than deserving of being named an All-Star.
