Common knowledge nowadays appears to accept the idea of basketball being a young person’s game. Even though that may be true in a number of aspects, Saturday night at the hallowed grounds of Chicago’s United Center proved that veterans can still ball out with the up-and-comers.
Many a WNBA fan vividly remembers last year’s All-Star Game in Indianapolis – a 151-131 final that was not exactly competitive. This year’s All-Star Game was a bit more competitive – and featured a bit more defense but resulted in a 129-122 victory for Team Spoon over Team Coop.
Earning MVP honors would be the New York Liberty’s Jonquel Jones who not only concluded her evening in Chicago with a double-double but was two assists shy of a triple-double. Jones would finish with 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. She dedicated her performance to her late aunt. Jones revealed to Holly Rowe during ABC’s telecast that her aunt recently had a memorial service held in her honor.
The feat puts Jones in rarefied air as she is the first WNBA player in history to win a regular season MVP, Finals MVP, Commissioner’s Cup MVP and All-Star Game MVP.
While her All-Star achievement was certainly deserved amidst an emotional time for her, she also apologized for a comment she made during the Stud Budz’ 72-hour All-Star weekend livestream where she remarked that the Minnesota Lynx deserved the 2024 WNBA championship than the Liberty did. Jones understood how much that comment hurt New York fans and apologized – especially considering it was the first-ever championship in Liberty history.
As for the All-Star Game itself, bench play would become a story of the contest – and not only because of Jones. Team Spoon also benefited the 19 points placed on the scoreboard by the Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray. Among Team Spoon’s starters, the leading bucket-getter was Caitlin Clark. The Indiana Fever backcourt superstar also added five rebounds, four assists and a steal to her performance.
It looked as if Clark was the early leader in the clubhouse for MVP. Eleven of Clark’s 17 points occurred in the first quarter of play.
Another of Team Spoon’s starters – A’ja Wilson – also helped her team’s cause with 12 points. Also tallying 12 points was another of Team Spoon’s bench players in Courtney Williams. The resident Stud Bud herself also added seven dimes to her evening.
Similarly to Jones, the rookie sensation that is Olivia Miles was also two assists shy of a triple-double. Miles would earn a great deal of playing time while grabbing 12 rebounds, scoring 11 points and sending out eight assists. Miles also collected a pair of steals.
One more rebound would have given Nneka Ogwumike a double-double but she still can be proud of the performance she had. Ogwumike had 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists plus one steal. Kiki Iriafen also gave Team Spoon solid numbers in her second All-Star Game. Iriafen scored 10 points and hauled in six rebounds.
For Team Coop, it was Kelsey Mitchell who would show the way. The Fever veteran would conclude her evening with a 28-point effort. Mitchell also collected five steals and hauled in four rebounds.
Team Coop also had a secret weapon off of its bench in the form of Marina Mabrey. Mabrey may have struggled somewhat in the 3-Point Contest but would connect on a barrage of 3-pointers that ultimately allowed her to finish with a 23-point performance. Seventeen of those 23 happened in the first quarter.
Dominique Malonga would give fans at United Center something to especially cheer for when she slammed home a dunk in the second quarter. Only four others prior to Malonga threw down dunks – Lisa Leslie, Jonquel Jones, Brittney Griner and Sylvia Fowles, the latter of whom slammed one home the last time All-Star emanated from Chicago.
Stat-wise Malonga finished with 13 rebounds plus 12 points.
Team Coop also benefitted from the 18 points, five rebounds, six assists and one steal that occurred courtesy of Gabby Williams. Paige Bueckers managed to overcome a plethora of struggles only finish her evening with 12 points, seven assists and one steal.
The decision to stage All-Star at the United Center proved to be a massive success. It was announced during the game that it had broken an all-time WNBA All-Star Game attendance record with 19,783 fans in the building once referred to as the “Madhouse on Madison.”
With All-Star weekend in the rear-view mirror, WNBA fans will not have long to wait before the stars that were in Chicago return to their respective teams. On Tuesday, 10 of our 15 teams will be in action.
The Connecticut Sun will travel to Washington to take on the Mystics. The league-leading Minnesota Lynx, who now have a healthy Napheesa Collier in addition to Olivia Miles, host the Toronto Tempo. The Seattle Storm will be at home to host the Fever in a nationally televised broadcast on ESPN.
One of the two nightcap games will feature the Las Vegas Aces hosting the Portland Fire. The other will see the Los Angeles Sparks looking to defend their Crypto.com Arena home court against Jones and her Liberty.
