The league revealed on Tuesday that rookie sensations Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will team up as members of Team WNBA against Team USA in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game. Reese placed sixth and Clark placed first in the fan voting section, which contributes 25% toward the final roster.
Players who placed in the top 10 in the overall All-Star voting and who were not currently on the active Team USA 5-on-5 squad were automatically named All-Stars. These players were Clark (Fever), Aliyah Boston (Fever), Dearica Hamby (Sparks), and Arike Ogunbowale (Wings). Reese is one of eight players whose names were added to Team WNBA as a result of the coaches’ vote.
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DeWanna Bonner (Sun), Allisha Gray (Dream), Brionna Jones (Sun), Jonquel Jones (Liberty), Kayla McBride (Lynx), Kelsey Mitchell (Fever), and Nneka Ogwumike (Storm) make up the remaining members of the roster.
In preparation for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the All-Star Game format pits Team WNBA against Team USA. It takes place on Saturday, July 20, at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. This Friday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) is when the skills challenge and 3-point competition will take place.
The 2024 WNBA All-Star selection was automatic for every player on Team USA, as announced by USA Basketball earlier this month. The players on the team are Sabrina Ionescu (Liberty), Jewell Loyd (Storm), Alyssa Thomas (Sun), A’ja Wilson (Aces), Jackie Young (Aces), Napheesa Collier (Lynx), Kahleah Copper (Mercury), Chelsea Gray (Aces), and Brittney Griner (Mercury).
Hamby and the other members of the 3×3 squad are neither automatic All-Stars, nor do they play for squad USA in the All-Star Game.
Boston and Clark dominate the fan vote.
Fans (50%) and active WNBA players (25%) who cast ballots, along with a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters (25%) selected the first group of All-Stars. There were two backcourt players and six frontcourt players on the ballots. Voting was available for Team USA players.
All-Star nominations were given to the top 10 vote getters automatically, while those who did not make Team USA were placed on Team WNBA. Fans voted for Clark (700,735) and Boston (618,680) in first and second place, respectively. Wilson (607,300), Stewart (424,135), and Reese (381,518) came in after them. Last year’s vote was shared by Wilson and Stewart.
As it has in the past, the WNBA did not issue the fan, player, or media top-10 rankings, nor the overall top-10 rankings. It simply made the ten players available in alphabetical order and without rankings. Despite finishing in the top 10, Collier, Copper, Ionescu, Stewart, Wilson, and Young are already members of Team USA. The remaining players, Ogunbowale, Boston, Clark, and Hamby, were named to Team WNBA.
The 12 WNBA coaches were given the names of the next 36 highest vote-getters, who included at least nine guards and fifteen frontcourt players, to fill the remaining positions on the 12-player roster. Due to their assignment to an All-Star squad, coaches were not permitted to vote for squad USA players or their own players.
Since 2014, when No. 1 overall pick Chiney Ogwumike and No. 8 pick Shoni Schimmel both made the game, this will be the first time there will be two rookies in the same game. With Schimmel’s selection, it was the third season in a row that a rookie was designated a starter (Maya Moore in 2011, Griner in 2012, and Elena Delle Donne in 2013). She was named MVP.