WNBA NEWS - A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart named starters and captains for WNBA All-Star Game

A’ja Wilson - (NBA photo)

A’ja Wilson - (NBA photo) Aces’ A’ja Wilson first WNBA All-Star returns of fan voting

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Wilson and Stewart, each selected as an All-Star for the fifth time, will serve as official team captains by virtue of being the two All-Star starters who finished with the most fan votes. This marks the second consecutive year that Wilson and Stewart finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in fan voting - THIS DAY IN THE NBA

NEW YORK, NY USA.

Tuesday June 27, 2023

Two-time Kia WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and 2018 Kia WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty lead the list of 10 players – four guards and six frontcourt players – selected by fans, current WNBA players and media to start in the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game set to be played on Saturday, July 15 at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas (ABC, 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET).

The starters were revealed today during ABC’s broadcast of a game between the Liberty and Washington Mystics.

Wilson and Stewart, each selected as an All-Star for the fifth time, will serve as official team captains by virtue of being the two All-Star starters who finished with the most fan votes. This marks the second consecutive year that Wilson and Stewart finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in fan voting.

Last year, Team Wilson defeated Team Stewart 134-112 at the 2022 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago. Wilson also served as a captain when she led Team Wilson past Team (Elena) Delle Donne 129-126 in the 2019 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas.

Joining Wilson and Stewart as starters in the frontcourt are 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever, nine-time All-Star Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury, 2016 Kia WNBA MVP and eight-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks and two-time All-Star Satou Sabally of the Dallas Wings.

The starting backcourt will feature five-time All-Stars Chelsea Gray of Las Vegas and Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm, three-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale of Dallas and two-time All-Star Jackie Young of Las Vegas.

Voting will now begin for the 12 AT&T WNBA All-Star reserves, who will be selected by the league’s head coaches. The head coaches will vote for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference. They may not vote for their own players. The reserves will be announced on Saturday, July 1. If a player is unable to play in AT&T WNBA All-Star, a replacement will be named by WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

The captains will draft their rosters by selecting first from the pool of eight remaining starters and then from the pool of 12 reserves. ESPN will broadcast the WNBA All-Star Team Selection Special on Saturday, July 8 (1 p.m. ET).

2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game Starter Pool

• Aliyah Boston, Fever (1st All-Star selection): Boston is the eighth rookie selected to start in the All-Star Game and the first since 2014 (Chamique Holdsclaw, 1999; Sue Bird and Tamika Catchings, 2002; Maya Moore, 2011; Elena Delle Donne and Brittney Griner, 2013; and Shoni Schimmel, 2014). The Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from June 12-18, Boston is pacing the league in field goal percentage (.651) and leads all rookies in scoring (15.6 ppg), rebounding (8.1 rpg) and blocks (1.5 bpg).

• Chelsea Gray, Aces (5th All-Star selection): Gray was the MVP of the 2022 WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV and the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game presented by Coinbase. She is tied with her teammate Young for second among all players in three-point field goal percentage (50.0 percent) and ranks third in assists with a career-high 6.7 apg. The two-time All-WNBA pick also is contributing 13.5 points per game.

• Brittney Griner, Mercury (9th All-Star selection): Griner’s nine All-Star selections are the most of any 2023 starter. She was named an honorary All-Star and starter by Engelbert last year after Griner was wrongfully detained in Russia. During the second half of that game, both teams wore jerseys with Griner’s No. 42. The two-time Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and six-time All-WNBA pick ranks ninth in scoring (19.1 ppg), 16th in rebounding (6.4 rpg), and paces all players in blocks (2.4 bpg) in 2023.

• Jewell Loyd, Storm (5h All-Star selection): Loyd, also a starter in 2019, leads the WNBA in scoring (25.4 ppg) this season as well as in games of at least 30 points (four) and ranks first in made threes (41). The two-time All-WNBA Team selection is on track to challenge Diana Taurasi’s season scoring record of 25.29 points per game set in 2006. Loyd has scored 305 points this season, tied with Diana Taurasi for the second-most through a player’s first 12 games of a season in WNBA history (Elena Delle Donne, 323).

• Arike Ogunbowale, Wings (3rd All-Star selection): The 2021 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game MVP in the WNBA All-Stars’ win over the USA Basketball Women’s National Team, Ogunbowale has ranked among the top five scorers each of the past four seasons, leading the league in 2020. She ranks third in scoring in 2023 with 22.7 ppg and second in made threes (38). Her career-high 41 points vs. Seattle on June 17 marked the 14th game in which she has scored at least 30 points since entering the league in 2019, the most by any player in that span.

• Nneka Ogwumike, Sparks (8th All-Star selection): A starter for the second straight year, Ogwumike ranks sixth in scoring (19.7 ppg) and fifth in rebounding (9.5 rpg) in 2023. Her 19.7 points per game equals the career-best figure she posted in her MVP season of 2016, and her 9.7 rebounds is a career high. A five-time All-WNBA Team selection, Ogwumike helped the Sparks win the 2016 WNBA championship.

• Satou Sabally, Wings (2nd All-Star selection): Sabally, who was a first-time All-Star two years ago, ranks seventh in the WNBA in scoring (19.5 ppg) and second in rebounding (10.5 rpg) in 2023 with career highs in both categories. Her 19.5 points per game are 5.6 ppg above her prior career best and her 10.5 rpg are more than 2.5 above her prior best. Sabally’s 14-point, 13-rebound effort against Los Angeles on June 14 made her the first player in franchise history and the eighth in league history to record seven straight double-doubles.

• Breanna Stewart, Liberty (5th All-Star selection): Stewart, who has guided New York to an 8-3 mark, the league’s third-best record, ranks second in the WNBA in scoring (22.9 ppg) and first in rebounding (10.8 rpg) in 2023. Her 45-point effort vs. Indiana on May 21 is the highest-scoring game by any player this season. The 2018 Kia WNBA MVP, Stewart also is a three-time WNBA champion, two-time WNBA Finals MVP (2020 and 2018) and five-time All-WNBA Team selection.

• A‘ja Wilson, Aces (5th All-Star selection): The two-time Kia WNBA MVP and reigning Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year has helped the defending champions to a WNBA-best 12-1 record. Wilson and her teammates Gray and Young have Las Vegas averaging 93.2 ppg, a figure that, were the season to end today, would rank second in WNBA history behind the 93.8 ppg recorded by the 2010 Mercury. Wilson is eighth in scoring (19.3 ppg), sixth in rebounding (9.4 rpg), and second in blocks (2.2 bpg) this season.

• Jackie Young, Aces (2nd All-Star selection): Young has been selected as an All-Star starter for the second consecutive year. The 2022 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player has increased her scoring average every year between her second and fifth WNBA seasons. She is the WNBA’s fifth-ranked scorer in 2023 with a career-best 20.2 ppg, surpassing her previous career high of 15.9 set last season. She also is third in overall field goal percentage (58.8 percent) behind only two All-Star centers in Boston and Griner.

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

June 27, 1989 For the first time ever, the NBA Draft was broadcast live in prime time by TBS from the Felt Forum in New York. Louisville center Pervis Ellison was the first player selected overall, by the Sacramento Kings.

June 27, 2001 Kwame Brown of Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Georgia became the first high school player selected No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft when the Washington Wizards selected him at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Pau Gasol of Spanish League powerhouse F.C. Barcelona, chosen third overall by the Atlanta Hawks, became the highest selection ever who had not played high school or college basketball in the United States.

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