The WNBA All-Star team includes rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
The WNBA announced on Tuesday that rookies Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever have been nominated to their first All-Star squad. Since 2014, this is the first season that two rookies have been named WNBA All-Stars.
Reese was overcome with emotion when hearing that she had been selected for the All-Star team. She has also been voted the June WNBA Rookie of the Month. She sobbed as she told the reporters, “I’m just so happy.”
“Despite my hard work and dedication, many people had doubts about me when I entered this league. They didn’t believe my game would translate and that I would not be the same player I was in college. I had faith in the procedure and trusted it.
In the Sky’s 85-77 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, Reese recorded her 11th straight double-double, extending her league record for a single season, with a franchise-high 19 rebounds. She has now surpassed Candace Parker’s record, set over two seasons, for the most consecutive double-doubles.
How the Seattle Storm rose to become the most valuable WNBA team in history. Meanwhile, Clark has routinely drew sizable audiences during her stint in the WNBA and was voted Rookie of the Month in May. 20,366 people attended the Fever’s 88-69 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday, making it the greatest audience in the league’s history and the fifth-largest since 1999.
Regarding his partnership with the former collegiate rival Reese, Clark told reporters, “I don’t think I’ve ever been her teammate before, even at USA Basketball or anything like that.” “I hope it doesn’t take away from everyone else, but I know people will be really excited about it.”This is an enormous accomplishment for all members of both Team WNBA and Team USA. They should all be commended equally.
Two-time All-Star Aliyah Boston (Fever), four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings), and nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle Storm) join the two rookies on the 12-woman Team WNBA roster.
On July 20, a sold-out game will be place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix between Team WNBA and the USA Basketball Women’s National Team.
For the 20th All-Star game, Team USA is led by six-time All-Star A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces. Six-time All-Star Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, eleven-time All-Star Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury, and ten-time All-Star Brittney Griner of the Mercury are joining Wilson.
The USA Basketball vs. Team WNBA format will be used for the second time in the All-Star game. Before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Team WNBA defeated Team USA 93-85 in Las Vegas. Voters selected the All-Stars (50%), followed by current WNBA players (25%) and a panel of national sportswriters and broadcasters (25%).