Cheryl Miller to Coach WNBA All-Stars – The coaches for the WNBA All-Stars vs. Team USA are locked in.
One of the pioneers of the women’s game as we know it today, WNBA legend and Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller will be patrolling the sidelines and will lead the All-Stars against Team USA, which will be coached by Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve. The game will tip off on Saturday, July 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Both rosters are overflowing with talent as expected for this exhibition.
Team USA will feature the best and brightest the sport has to offer, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Diana Taurasi, Kahleah Copper, Britney Griner, Napheesa Collier, Alyssa Thomas and Jewell Loyd.
They are coming into the contest as the favorites by a large margin, especially considering the overall depth, talent and experience throughout the roster. They were carefully selected to represent the United States, (Red, White and Blue) at the Paris Games for a reason.
“Participating in the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game will be a great opportunity for our national team as they prepare to defend their Olympic gold medal in Paris,” USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley said in a statement back in March. “It will also serve as a grand celebration of the growth and excellence of women’s basketball in our country and around the world.”
But the WNBA All-Stars are not to be underestimated or slept on. They will counter with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, Jonquel Jones, Brionna Jones, DeWanna Bonner, Allisha Gray, Dearica Hamby, Kayla McBride, Nneka Ogwumike and Arike Ogunbowale.
As for Miller, the 60-year-old was a three-time Naismith Player of the Year during her distinguished college career at USC, winning national championships in 1983 and 1984. She won a gold medal with Team USA in 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics and is in both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
After her playing days were over, she made several coaching stops along her journey, including at USC and with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. She is the older sister of NBA Hall of Famer and Indiana Pacer legend Reggie Miller, where he played form 1987-2005.
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Bucks’ Middleton had Ankle Surgeries – After Bucks coach Doc Rivers said on ESPN’s Summer League broadcast on Tuesday that Khris Middleton underwent surgery this summer, Shams Charania and Eric Nehm of The Athletic have made the details available. According to Charania and Nehm, Middleton is actually recovering from two separate procedures.
The first was an arthroscopic surgery on Middleton’s left ankle to address a lingering injury that slowed him down throughout the entire 2023/24 campaign. The Bucks small forward initially sprained the ankle on February 6 and said a month later that he had never gone through a sprain as bad as that. It ultimately kept him off the court for nearly a month-and-a-half, costing him a grand total of 16 games.
“[Middleton] was injured, you know, through the playoffs,” Bucks coach Rivers said Tuesday during a broadcast for the team’s summer league game. “And just played because, you know, no one else was playing. He played terrific. He had surgery in the summer, but he’ll be fine by the beginning of camp, which is good for us.”
Middleton also underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his right ankle, according to The Athletic’s NBA Dream Team, to clean up a nagging issue. He sprained his right ankle in Game 2 of the team’s first-round postseason series vs. the Indiana Pacers.
The procedure on Middleton’s left ankle occurred shortly after the Bucks were ousted from the playoffs in May, while the second procedure on the right ankle was completed in mid-June.
Although it may not be ideal news for Bucks fans that Middleton, whose effectiveness has been hampered by injury issues in recent years, is recovering from surgeries on both ankles, Charania and Nehm say the recovery process is going as well as could be expected.
The 32-year-old was walking around without pain or discomfort in Las Vegas over the weekend and has already begun light on-court activities, league sources tell The Athletic. The expectation is that Middleton will be fully recovered and ready to go for the start of the 2024/25 season.
Middleton’s numbers have taken a nose dive over the past two regular seasons as he has struggled to stay healthy, but he performed more like his old self during their abbreviated postseason run this spring, helping to keep the Bucks in the series vs. the Pacers with Giannis Antetokounmpo unavailable and Damian Lillard sidelined with Achilles soreness for two games. He averaged 24.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in those six games, making 48.2% of his shots from the field and 90.0% of his free throws.
