WNBA NEWS - Sun’s Alyssa Thomas and Mystics’ Elena Delle Donne highlight reserves for 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game

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Mystics’ Elena Delle Donne - (WNBA - photo)

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In addition to these 12 reserves, the 10 starters for the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game – four guards and six frontcourt players selected by fans, current players and media – were previously announced on June 25

NEW YORK USA - (NBA)

Saturday July 1, 2023

WNBA career triple-doubles leader Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun and two-time Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics highlight the list of 12 players who will serve as reserves in the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game, which will 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 reserves were revealed today on ABC’s WNBA Countdown. They were selected by WNBA head coaches, who voted for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference. The coaches were not able to vote for their own players.

Joining Thomas and Delle Donne in the frontcourt as reserves are Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner, the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, the Seattle Storm’s Ezi Magbegor and the Atlanta Dream’s Cheyenne Parker.

Reserves at the guard position are the Chicago Sky’s Kahleah Copper, Atlanta’s Allisha Gray, the New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, the Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell, the Las Vegas Aces’ Kelsey Plum and New York’s Courtney Vandersloot.

Gray, Magbegor, Mitchell and Parker have each been named All-Stars for the first time.

In addition to these 12 reserves, the 10 starters for the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game – four guards and six frontcourt players selected by fans, current players and media – were previously announced on June 25.

Two-time Kia WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson of Las Vegas and 2018 Kia WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart of New York, each of whom was 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.

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). By virtue of finishing with the most fan votes, Wilson will make the first pick.

As previously announced, joining Wilson and Stewart as All-Star starters in the frontcourt are 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Aliyah Boston of Indiana, 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 Seattle, three-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale of Dallas and two-time All-Star Jackie Young of Las Vegas.

Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon and Connecticut head coach Stephanie White have earned spots as the head coaches for the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game. With Las Vegas having clinched the best record in the WNBA through June 30 (14-1, .933), Hammon and the Aces’ staff will coach Team Wilson. With the Sun having posted the second-best record through June 30 (12-4, .750), White and the Connecticut staff will guide Team Stewart.

2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game Reserves

• DeWanna Bonner, Sun (5th All-Star selection): Connecticut’s leading scorer, Bonner is an All-Star for the fifth time. She is averaging 17.6 points, the third-best mark of her 14 WNBA seasons and her highest total since 2020. On June 8, at the age of 35, Bonner scored a career-high and Sun franchise-record 41 points in a win over the Aces.

• Napheesa Collier, Lynx (3rd All-Star selection): Collier is pacing Minnesota in scoring with 22.4 ppg, more than six points above her prior career high. Collier made her All-Star debut in 2019 when she was named by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert as a replacement for the injured Wilson. She then participated in the 2021 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game as a member of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team.

• Kahleah Copper, Sky (3rd All-Star selection): The MVP of the 2021 WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, Copper is an All-Star for the third consecutive season. Copper is averaging a career-high 16.5 points, and her .415 three-point field goal percentage is the second-best figure of her career.

• Elena Delle Donne, Mystics (7th All-Star selection): The two-time WNBA MVP and two-time All-Star captain led Team Delle Donne against Team Wilson in 2019 in Las Vegas and against Team (Candace) Parker in 2018 in Minneapolis. Delle Donne ranks seventh in the league in scoring (19.5 ppg) and 19th in rebounding (6.3 rpg) this season. Her .500 field goal percentage, .390 percentage on three-point shots and .962 free throw shooting is nearly on par with her historic 50-40-90 effort of 2019.

• Allisha Gray, Dream (1st All-Star selection): The 2017 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year makes her All-Star debut in her first season with Atlanta and seventh season overall. Gray, who helped the U.S. to a gold medal in the 3×3 competition at the 2020 Olympics alongside Plum, Young and New York’s Stefanie Dolson, is posting career highs in scoring (18.3 ppg), rebounding (5.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (.481).

• Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty (2nd All-Star selection): Ionescu ranks second on the Liberty in scoring (15.3 ppg) behind Stewart and second in assists (4.7 apg) behind Vandersloot. The No. 1 overall draft pick in 2020, Ionescu made her All-Star debut and was an All-WNBA Team selection last year when she became the first player in league history to record at least 500 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists in a season.

• Ezi Magbegor, Storm (1st All-Star selection): The final selection in the first round of the 2019 WNBA Draft, Magbegor, a native of Australia, debuted in the WNBA in 2020. Now, in her fourth WNBA season, she is an All-Star for the first time. Magbegor’s 15.1 points per game are nearly six points better than her prior career high, and her 8.6 rebounds are also a career best.

• Kelsey Mitchell, Fever (1st All-Star selection): The No. 2 pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and an All-Rookie Team selection that year, Mitchell will make her All-Star debut in her sixth WNBA season. Over the last three seasons, Mitchell ranked sixth in the league in scoring twice and eighth once. This season, she is averaging 17.0 points and her .384 three-point field goal percentage is the third-best figure of her career.

• Cheyenne Parker, Dream (1st All-Star selection): In her ninth season, Parker, the No. 5 draft pick in 2015, is a first-time All-Star. She is tied with Allie Quigley and Tangela Smith as the second-oldest players in terms of experience to make their All-Star debut. Only Plenette Pierson, named an All-Star for the first time in her 13th season, made her All-Star debut later in her career. Parker is averaging 15.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals and converting .891 percent of her free throws, all career-high figures.

• Kelsey Plum, Aces (2nd All-Star selection): Plum was the MVP of the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game after tying Maya Moore’s All-Star Game record of 30 points in Team Wilson’s win over Team Stewart. Plum, an All-WNBA First Team selection in 2022 after being the WNBA Sixth Player of the Year the prior season, is averaging 17.1 points and 4.2 assists the second-highest figure of her career in each category.

• Alyssa Thomas, Sun (4th All-Star selection): A four-time WNBA All-Defensive Team selection, Thomas this season became the WNBA’s career triple-doubles leader for the regular season (5) and for the regular season and playoffs combined (7), with all of them coming since last year’s All-Star Game. Thomas is leading the league in rebounding (10.4 rpg) and steals (2.1 spg) and ranks second in assists (8.0 apg) and with career-high figures in each category. She also is averaging 14.6 points per game.

• Courtney Vandersloot, Liberty (5th All-Star selection): Vandersloot, who in 2021 led the WNBA in assists for the fifth consecutive season and sixth time overall, is again pacing the league this season (8.4 apg). She will be appearing in her fourth straight AT&T WNBA All-Star Game. Vandersloot made her All-Star debut as a reserve during her rookie season of 2011.

Below is the full roster of 2023 WNBA All-Stars

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