What the rosters for the two All-Star teams that will take the court at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas became a lot clearer when the starters for both teams were announced during an episode of ESPN’s “The Jump” with Rachel Nichols.
The list of 10 players will be led by the Washington Mystics’ Elena Delle Donne and the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson as they received the most fan votes. As team captains, they will draft the rosters from the list of players among the starters and reserves.
Those starters will also include Liz Cambage (Aces), Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Natasha Howard (Seattle Storm), Jonquel Jones (Connecticut Sun), Chelsea Gray (Los Angeles Sparks), Jewell Loyd (Storm), Kayla McBride (Aces) and Kia Nurse (New York Liberty).
It is the sixth selections for both Delle Donne and Griner while Gray, McBride and Cambage are making their third All-Star appearances. It is the second All-Star selections for Loyd, Jones and Wilson while Nurse and Howard are making their first appearances in an All-Star Game.
The reserves will be announced on July 15.
What was also announced prior to July 15 was the coaches who will take part in the All-Star Game as well. The two coaches will be the Aces’ Bill Laimbeer and the Mystics’ Mike Thibault. The irony is that Laimbeer will coach Team Delle Donne while Thibault will be the coach for Team Wilson.
The Aces and Mystics clinched the WNBA’s best records through July 12, earning the All-Star coaching nods for Laimbeer and Thibault.
Thibault’s last All-Star coaching appearance was in 2006 when the Eastern Conference won 98-82 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Laimbeer last coached the Eastern Conference at the 2017 All-Star Game at KeyArena in Seattle when the West prevailed 130-121.
