The league announced Tuesday that rookie stars Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese will play for Team USA as members of Team WNBA in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game. Clark finished first in fan voting, which accounts for 25 percent of the final roster, while Reese finished fifth.
Clark (Fever), Aaliyah Boston (Fever), Dearika Hamby (Sparks) and Arike Ogunbowale (Wings) were automatic All-Star selections because they finished in the top 10 in All-Star voting and were not active members of Team USA’s 5-on-5 roster. Reese is one of eight players selected to Team WNBA, with coaches’ votes influencing the decision.
The remaining members are DeWanna Bonner (Sun), Alisha Gray (Dream), Breonna Jones (Sun), Jonquel Jones (Liberty), Kayla McBride (Lynx), Kelsey Mitchell (Fever) and Nneka Ogwumike (Storm).
The All-Star Game, with Team WNBA versus Team USA in the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, will be held at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Saturday, July 20 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). The Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest will be held on Friday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN).
All Team USA players were selected by USA Basketball last month, automatically earning WNBA All-Star honors in 2024. The team is made up of Napheesa Collier (Lynx), Kaalia Copper (Mercury), Chelsea Gray (Aces), Brittney Griner (Mercury), Sabrina Ionescu (Liberty), Jewel Loyd (Storm), Kelsey Plum (Aces), Breanna Stewart (Liberty), Diana Taurasi (Mercury), Alyssa Thomas (Sun), A’ja Wilson (Aces) and Jackie Young (Aces).
Members of the 3×3 team, including Hamby, are not automatically selected as All-Stars and will not compete for Team USA in the All-Star Game.
Clarke and Boston top fan vote
The initial All-Star selections were determined by a combination of fans (50%), current WNBA players who submitted ballots (25%), and a national committee of sportswriters and announcers (25%). Voters’ votes consisted of six frontcourt players and two backcourt players. Team USA players were also eligible to receive votes.
The top 10 vote-getters were automatically selected to the All-Star team, and players not on the U.S. team were assigned to a WNBA team. Clarke (700,735) and Boston (618,680) finished first and second in the fan vote, respectively, followed by Wilson (607,300), Stewart (424,135) and Reese (381,518). Wilson and Stewart won the voting last year.
The WNBA did not release an overall top 10 ranking as in previous years, nor did it release a top 10 ranking by fans, players or media. It simply released 10 unranked players in alphabetical order. Collier, Copper, Ionescu, Stewart, Wilson and Young all made the top 10 but already play for Team USA. Boston, Clark, Hamby and Ogunbowale were also named to Team WNBA.
The names of the top 36 players with the next most votes (comprised of at least nine guards and 15 frontcourt players) were provided to the 12 WNBA coaches to fill the remaining spots on the 12-player rosters. Coaches could not vote for their own players, nor could they vote for Team USA players, as they had already been assigned to the All-Star team.
This is the first time two rookies have played in the game since No. 1 overall pick Chiney Ogwumike and No. 8 pick Shaunie Shimmell each played in a game in 2014. Shimmell was named the starter, marking the third consecutive season in which a rookie has been named the starter (Maya Moore in 2011, Griner and Elena Delle Donne in 2012) and she was named MVP.
Taurasi, Griner are All-Star candidates
Taurasi will be making his 11th All-Star appearance and teammate Griner’s 10th as he seeks a record eighth consecutive gold medal with the U.S. Team. Griner was an honorary selection for 2022 while in custody in Russia and returned to the All-Star Game last summer.
Taurasi and Sue Bird are the only two players with 11 or more All-Star nominations, and Griner is just the fourth player with 10 or more nominations. The center is tied with Tamika Catchings for third most nominations of all time.
Ionescu, Plum and Young will each be making their third All-Star appearance, and they are three of 11 former No. 1 draft picks who will play in the summer’s marquee game.
Ogwumike is a veteran of the WNBA team and will be making her ninth All-Star Game appearance. Bonner will be making her sixth. Boston and Mitchell will be making their second appearances since being selected for the first time in 2023. This is the second time in Fever franchise history that three players have been named All-Stars in one season (2007, with Catchings, Tammy Sutton-Brown and Anna DeForge).
Team USA has a combined total of 67 All-Star appearances and 98 years of WNBA experience. Team WNBA has a combined total of 42 All-Star appearances and 78 seasons of WNBA experience.
Historically, the WNBA has skipped the All-Star Game during Olympic years due to the one-month hiatus. However, in 2021, the league introduced the Team USA vs. Team WNBA format as the official All-Star Game, which in the past had been held as a separate exhibition. Ogunbowale led all scorers with 26 points, leading Team WNBA to an upset win over Team USA in 2021. This is the 20th WNBA All-Star Game in the league’s 28-year history.
The fan vote broke records in line with the trend of increasing viewership and attendance. Wilson (217,773) and Clark (216,427) topped the polls after one week of fan voting, each receiving twice as many votes as Wilson (95,860) received in 2023 through two weeks of voting. Clark received seven times as many votes this year.
