The two players that will be forever linked throughout their WNBA careers will headline Team WNBA. Rookie sensations Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will be teammates for the first time in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game as members of Team WNBA taking on Team USA, the league announced Tuesday night. Not shocking anyone, Clark finished first in the fan voting portion that counts 25% toward the final roster. Reese rounded out the top five.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been her 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.”
Clark (Fever), Aliyah Boston (Fever), Dearica Hamby (Sparks) and Arike Ogunbowale (Wings) were automatically named All-Stars as players who finished in the top 10 of overall All-Star balloting and who were not previously a part of the active Team USA 5-on-5 roster. Reese is one of eight players who were named to Team WNBA after the coaches’ vote factored into the decision.
The rest of the roster consists of DeWanna Bonner (Sun), Allisha Gray (Dream), Brionna Jones (Sun), Jonquel Jones (Liberty), Kayla McBride (Lynx), Kelsey Mitchell (Fever) and Nneka Ogwumike (Storm).
The All-Star Game format is Team WNBA vs. Team USA as a precursor to the 2024 Paris Olympics and will take place at Footprint Center in Phoenix on Saturday, July 20 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). The Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest will take place Friday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN).
All players on Team USA automatically earned 2024 WNBA All-Star nods upon their selection by USA Basketball in June. The team is made up of of Napheesa Collier (Lynx), Kahleah Copper (Mercury), Chelsea Gray (Aces), Brittney Griner (Mercury), Sabrina Ionescu (Liberty), Jewell Loyd (Storm), Kelsey Plum (Aces), Breanna Stewart (Liberty), Diana Taurasi (Mercury), Alyssa Thomas (Sun), A’ja Wilson (Aces) and Jackie Young (Aces).
The 3×3 team members, which includes Hamby, were not shoe-ins to be All-Stars and will not compete for Team USA in the All-Star Game.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe initial selection of All-Stars was decided by a combination of fans (50%), current WNBA players who submit ballots (25%) and a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters (25%). Voters’ ballots consisted of six frontcourt players and two backcourt players. Team USA players could receive votes.
The top 10 vote earners automatically received All-Star nods and those not on Team USA were assigned to Team WNBA. Clark (700,735) and Boston (618,680) finished first and second, respectively, in fan voting followed by Wilson (607,300), Stewart (424,135) and Reese (381,518). Wilson and Stewart won the vote in 2023.
“I’m just so happy. I know the work I put in,” said Reese, who had 12 points and 19 rebounds in the 85-77 win. “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 to [pick No. 7] 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.”
It is the first time the game will feature two rookies in a decade, when Chiney Ogwumike, the No. 1 overall pick out of Stanford, and Shoni Schimmel, the No. 8 pick, each made the game. Schimmel was named a starter, making it three consecutive seasons of a rookie being named a starter (Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx in 2011, Griner and Elena Delle Donne, Chicago Sky in 2012). She took home MVP honors.
All-time leading scorer and arguably the best to ever do it, Taurasi will make her 11th All-Star appearance and teammate Griner will make her 10th as they go for a record eighth consecutive gold medal with Team USA. Griner returned to the All-Star Game last summer after receiving an honorary nod in 2022 while detained in Russia.
Taurasi and her college teammate Sue Bird are the only players with at least 11 All-Star appearances and Griner became the fourth with at least 10. The center is tied with Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings for third-most all time. Ionescu, Plum and Young are each making their third All-Star appearances. They are three of 11 former No. 1 picks playing in the summer’s marquee game.
Ogwumike is the veteran for Team WNBA playing in her ninth All-Star Game. Bonner is in her sixth game. Boston and Mitchell are each playing in their second after their first nods in 2023. It is the second time in Fever franchise history that a trio of players are named All-Stars in a single season (2007, with Catchings, Tammy Sutton-Brown and Anna DeForge).
Team USA is overflowing with a combined 67 All-Star appearances and 98 years of WNBA experience. Team WNBA has 42 All-Star appearances combined and 78 seasons of WNBA experience under their belt.
In the past, the WNBA has made the decision to forgo the All-Star Games during seasons with Olympic competitions due to of the month-long break. But in 2021, the league introduced the Team USA vs. Team WNBA concept as an official All-Star Game. It had been held as a separate exhibition in the past. Ogunbowale led all scorers with 26 points to push Team WNBA over Team USA in a 2021 upset. It is the 20th WNBA All-Star game in the league’s 28-year history.
Starters for both teams will be determined by their respective head coaches.
