Rookie stars Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese will be members of Team USA in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game, the league announced Tuesday. Clark finished first in the fan voting portion of the final list, accounting for 25% of the final list, and Reese finished fifth.
Clark (Fever), Aliyah Baston (Fever), Dierica Hampi (Sparks) and Arike Ogunbowale (Wings) were automatically named All-Stars as inactive players who finished in the top 10 overall All-Star voting. Team USA 5 of 5 list. Reese was one of eight players named to the WNBA team after the coaches’ poll was completed.
The rest of the roster includes Devanna Bonner (Sun), Alisha Gray (Dream), Breonna Jones (Sun), Jonquel Jones (Liberty), Kayla McBride (Lynx), Kelsey Mitchell (Fever) and Nneka Okwumik (Storm).
The All-Star Game format is Team WNBA vs. Team USA in the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be held at the Phoenix Footprint Center 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 received automatic 2024 WNBA All-Star honors as selected by USA Basketball last month. The team consists of Nabeesa Collier (Lynx), Kahlia Copper (Mercury), Chelsea Gray (Aces), Brittney Griner (Mercury), Sabrina Ionescu (Liberty), Jewel Lloyd (Storm), Kelsey Plum (Aces), Brenna Stewart (Liberty). There are ), Diana Daraci (Mercury), Alyssa Thomas (Sun), Aja Wilson (Aces) and Jackie Young (Aces).
Members of the 3×3 team, which includes Hamby, were not automatic All-Stars and did not compete for Team USA in the All-Star Game.
Clarke, Boston’s leading fan vote
The initial selection of All-Stars was decided by fans (50%), current WNBA players submitting ballots (25%) and a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters (25%). There were six forwards and two backfield players on the voters’ ballot. Team USA players can vote.
The top 10 vote-getters received automatic All-Star recognition and those not on Team USA were assigned to Team WNBA. Clark (700,735) and Boston (618,680) finished first and second, respectively, followed by Wilson (607,300), Stewart (424,135) and Reese (381,518) in the fan vote. Wilson and Stewart voted last year.
The WNBA has not released overall top-10 rankings or fan, player and media top-10s in the past. It released 10 players unranked and in alphabetical order only. Collier, Copper, Ionescu, Stewart, Wilson and Young all made the top 10, but are already playing for Team USA. Boston, Clark, Hamby and Ogunbowale rounded out the group and were named to the WNBA team.
The names of the next 36 top vote-getters (consisting of at least nine guards and 15 forwards) were presented to 12 WNBA coaches to fill the remaining spots on the 12-player roster. Coaches cannot vote for their own players, and cannot vote for Team USA players because they have already been assigned to the All-Star team.
It was the first time the game featured two rookies since 2014, when No. 1 overall pick Chiney Ogwumike and No. 8 pick Shoney Schimmel made each game. Schimmel was named a starter, the first time a freshman has been named a starter in three consecutive seasons (Maya Moore in 2011, Kreiner in 2011 and Elena Delle Donne in 2012). He won MVP awards.
Tarasi, Griner lead all-star nods
Taurasi will make his 11th All-Star appearance, and teammate Griner will earn his 10th in pursuit of his eighth straight gold medal with Team USA. Griner returned to the All-Star Game last summer after receiving an honorable mention while in custody in Russia in 2022.
Taurasi and Sue Bird are the only players with at least 11 All-Star days, and Griner is tied for fourth with at least 10. The center is tied for third-highest with Tamika Catchings.
Ionescu, Plum and Young are making their third All-Star appearances. They are three of 11 former No. 1 picks playing in the summer’s marquee game.
Ogwumike is a veteran WNBA player playing in her ninth All-Star Game. Bonner is in his sixth game. Both Boston and Mitchell have been playing since 2023. It’s only the second time in Fever franchise history that three players have been named All-Stars in the same season (2007, along with Catchings, Tommy Sutton-Brown and Anna DeForge. )
Team USA has 67 All-Star appearances and 98 years of WNBA experience. The WNBA team has 42 All-Star appearances and 78 seasons of WNBA experience.
Historically, the WNBA has skipped All-Star Games during Olympic years due to the one-month hiatus. But in 2021, the league introduced the Team USA vs. Team WNBA format as the official All-Star Game. In the past it was held as a separate exhibition. Ogunbowale led all scorers with 26 points, leading the WNBA in 2021 against Team USA. It was the 20th WNBA All-Star Game in the league’s 28-year history.
Fan voting broke records in line with upward trends in viewership and attendance. Wilson (217,773) and Clark (216,427) led the polls after a week of fan voting, each with Wilson in double figures. Won in 2023 (95,860) at a two-week interval. Clark received seven votes this year.
