Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese may have missed out on Olympic roster spots, but they won’t be missing out on the WNBA’s All-Star weekend after they were named 1st time participants by voters.
The initial selection of the All-Stars was conducted through a combination of voting by fans (50 percent of the vote), current WNBA players (25 percent) and a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters (25 percent).
After considering the fan, player and media votes, the top 10 vote-getters were as follows (listed in alphabetical order): Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever), Caitlin Clark (Indiana), Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Kahleah Copper (Phoenix), Dearica Hamby (Los Angeles Sparks), Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty), Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings), Breanna Stewart (New York), A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces) and Jackie Young (Las Vegas).
“I don’t think I’ve ever been [Reese’s] teammate before, even at USA Basketball. I know people will be really excited about it, but I hope it doesn’t take away from everyone else,” Clark said. “This is a huge accomplishment for everybody on Team USA and everyone on Team WNBA. They all deserve the same praise. I don’t want it to take away from any of that and be the focal point of All-Star weekend because that’s not fair to them.”
An emotional Reese spoke to reporters about her All-Star selection following her team’s game vs. Atlanta stating “I’m just so happy. I know the work I put in…Coming into this league, so many people doubted me and didn’t think my game would translate and I wouldn’t be the player that I was in college or better or would be worse and wouldn’t be where I am right now.”
“But I trusted the process and I believed and I’m thankful that I dropped and was able to come to Chicago. And like, it’s just a blessing. I can’t thank my teammates and my coaches enough for just believing in me and trusting me. I know all of them are going to come to Phoenix and support me. So I’m really happy right now.”
This year’s format will pit the 2024 USA Olympic Basketball roster vs. the WNBA All-Stars in a July 20th at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ.
Because of increased interest in the WNBA this season, fuelled largely in part due to Clark and Reese’s breakout rookie campaigns, voting for the top 5 All-Stars was up 588% from 2023’s fan vote. In addition to the usual All-Star game, Friday will also feature the WNBA 3-Point Contest as well as the WNBA Skills Challenge.
Full rosters for both the WNBA All-Stars and 2024 USA Basketball Olympic team will be as follows:
TEAM WNBA
| PLAYER | TEAM | POSITION | HT | BIRTHDATE | COLLEGE | YR | ASG |
| DeWanna Bonner | Connecticut Sun | Frontcourt | 6-4 | 8/21/87 | Auburn | 14 | 6 |
| Aliyah Boston | Indiana Fever | Frontcourt | 6-5 | 12/11/01 | South Carolina | 1 | 2 |
| Caitlin Clark^ | Indiana Fever | Backcourt | 6-0 | 1/22/02 | Iowa | R | 1 |
| Allisha Gray | Atlanta Dream | Backcourt | 6-0 | 1/2/95 | South Carolina | 7 | 2 |
| Dearica Hamby | Los Angeles Sparks | Frontcourt | 6-3 | 11/6/93 | Wake Forest | 9 | 3 |
| Brionna Jones | Connecticut Sun | Frontcourt | 6-3 | 12/18/95 | Maryland | 7 | 3 |
| Jonquel Jones | New York Liberty | Frontcourt | 6-6 | 1/5/94 | George Washington | 7 | 5 |
| Kayla McBride | Minnesota Lynx | Backcourt | 5-11 | 6/25/92 | Notre Dame | 10 | 4 |
| Kelsey Mitchell | Indiana Fever | Backcourt | 5-8 | 11/12/95 | Ohio State | 6 | 2 |
| Arike Ogunbowale | Dallas Wings | Backcourt | 5-8 | 3/2/97 | Notre Dame | 5 | 4 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Seattle Storm | Frontcourt | 6-2 | 7/2/90 | Stanford | 12 | 9 |
| Angel Reese^ | Chicago Sky | Frontcourt | 6-3 | 5/6/02 | LSU | R | 1 |
USA WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
| PLAYER | WNBA TEAM | POSITION | HT | BIRTHDATE | COLLEGE | YR | ASG |
| Napheesa Collier | Minnesota Lynx | Frontcourt | 6-1 | 9/23/96 | Connecticut | 5 | 4 |
| Kahleah Copper | Phoenix Mercury | Backcourt | 6-1 | 8/28/94 | Rutgers | 8 | 4 |
| Chelsea Gray | Las Vegas Aces | Backcourt | 5-11 | 10/8/92 | Duke | 9 | 6 |
| Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury | Frontcourt | 6-9 | 10/18/90 | Baylor | 10 | 10 |
| Sabrina Ionescu | New York Liberty | Backcourt | 5-11 | 12/6/97 | Oregon | 4 | 3 |
| Jewell Loyd | Seattle Storm | Backcourt | 5-10 | 10/5/93 | Notre Dame | 9 | 6 |
| Kelsey Plum | Las Vegas Aces | Backcourt | 5-8 | 8/24/94 | Washington | 6 | 3 |
| Breanna Stewart | New York Liberty | Frontcourt | 6-4 | 8/27/94 | Connecticut | 7 | 6 |
| Diana Taurasi | Phoenix Mercury | Backcourt | 6-0 | 6/11/82 | Connecticut | 19 | 11 |
| Alyssa Thomas | Connecticut Sun | Frontcourt | 6-2 | 4/12/92 | Maryland | 10 | 5 |
| A’ja Wilson | Las Vegas Aces | Frontcourt | 6-4 | 8/8/96 | South Carolina | 6 | 6 |
| Jackie Young | Las Vegas Aces | Backcourt | 6-0 | 9/16/97 | Notre Dame | 5 | 3 |
^ denotes first-time All-Star selection
ASG denotes number of All-Star selections including 2024
Photo: Lorie Shaull. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.