Slowly, but surely we are beginning to see a much clearer picture as to what All-Star weekend in Indianapolis will resemble this year.
If all goes according to plan, three of the likely 3-Point Contest participants will be Allisha Gray, Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark. Ionescu and Gray are the last two winners of the signature All-Star Friday event.
In addition, we are slowly but surely getting a glimpse as to which players will be the starters for this month’s marquee exhibition at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The first announcement was that Clark and Napheesa Collier will be team captains at All-Star 2025. It is somewhat ironic that this is the case given Clark and Collier’s teams also did battle in this year’s Commissioner’s Cup Final in Minnesota.
Even though Clark missed the Commissioner’s Cup Final against the Lynx as she was continuing to recover from a quad injury – on top of a groin injury.
Clark and Collier were named All-Star starters because they led the fan vote. The aforementioned Gray was also announced as one of the starters as was Clark’s Indiana Fever teammate Aliyah Boston. The rest of the All-Star starters list includes Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu representing the New York Liberty. It also includes one each from the Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, Phoenix Mercury and Dallas Wings.
The Aces representative – per usual – is A’ja Wilson. That of the Storm is Nneka Ogwumike. Satou Sabally will be representing the Mercury and the Wings participant will be Paige Bueckers.
A few things stick out when seeing this list. Firstly – Bueckers being the only rookie starter for the WNBA’s midseason classic even though one can count on the likelihood of Kiki Iriafen (Washington Mystics) being selected to All-Star as a reserve. In addition, if one needed any more proof of how South Carolina gets players ready for the WNBA, there are three Gamecocks (Wilson, Boston, Gray) among the starting 10.
If one needed any proof of how UConn also gets players into the W, notice that there are also three Huskies (Stewart, Collier, Bueckers) also among the starting 10.
Of course, the depth of talent that there is in the WNBA means someone had to get snubbed from the list of starters. This year, a number of fans are zeroing in on another name from the Storm and another name from the Mercury.
The name from the Storm that has many a fan buzzing is Skylar Diggins.
Diggins is putting up career numbers for a Storm team that had some question marks heading into the season but is currently 10-7. Seattle would be the fifth seed if the playoffs began today as of this writing. She has averaged 18.9 points and 6.1 assists through the 17 games she has played in Storm green and gold. At 34, she is proving she is not old…but experienced.
The name from the Mercury that has many a fan buzzing is Alyssa Thomas.
While the Liberty have fallen a bit from their perch atop the W’s standings due to the Jonquel Jones ankle injury and Leonie Fiebich being away at Eurobasket, it has created an opening for Phoenix to rise in the standings. As of this writing, the Mercury are second in the WNBA standings with only the 14-2 Minnesota Lynx ahead of Phoenix.
Thomas is once again having her name mentioned in the MVP conversation on a Phoenix team that has re-established itself as contenders even after the conclusion of the Brittney Griner-Diana Taurasi era. There is a reason why she is a triple-double possibility on a game-by-game basis.
Thomas has averaged 14.8 points, 9.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds in the 12 games she has played this season in Phoenix purple and orange.
Granted, Thomas and Diggins will likely be All-Star participants as reserves, but the conversation on who will start will certainly continue between now and July 19.
The reserves for All-Star will be announced in a few days. Alongside Thomas, Diggins and Iriafen, one can also expect for Angel Reese to be announced as one of the reserves. Brittney Sykes is also deserving of consideration and there ought to be at least one Golden State Valkyrie – whether it is Kayla Thornton, Tiffany Hayes, Temi Fágbénlé that deserves to be in Indianapolis.
