This coming weekend is a big one for the WNBA as the All-Star Game is finally here. The event returns to Las Vegas, the home of the Aces after being held in Chicago last season. The Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest will be held on Friday, July 13, the day before the actual WNBA All-Star Game. It seems fitting that the Aces get to host All-Star Weekend as they are the defending champions and have been by far and away the best team in the league this season. The All-Star game will also be headlined by the reigning MVP, Aces superstar A'ja Wilson and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart. Here's a quick breakdown of all the important information about the WNBA All-Star Game.
Date, time, how to watch
The 2023 WNBA All-Star Game will be the main event of the weekend. It will take place on Saturday, July 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET. The game will be held at the Aces homecourt, the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay and viewers can follow along on ABC or the ESPN app.
*Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Participants
The WNBA All-Star Game rosters were selected via voting from fans (50 percent), media (25 percent) and the players (25 percent) themselves as well as the 12 WNBA head coaches. The starters were selected by the fans, media and players while the head coaches selected the reserves. The top two vote getters were named captains of the All-Star teams and that ended being Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.
This is Wilson's fifth All-Star selection. The reigning MVP, this season she's been averaging 19.9 points per game, 9.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 2.1 blocked shots with splits of 53.4 percent shooting from the field, 27.8 percent shooting from the thee-point line and 77 percent shooting from the free-throw line. This is also Stewart's fifth All-Star selection. This season she's been averaging a career-high 23.1 points per game, 9.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocked shots with splits of 47.6 percent shooting from the field, 41.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 86.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Following the announcement of the reserves, a WNBA All-Star Game draft was held with Wilson and Stewart selecting their teams.
Team Wilson is as follows:
Starters: A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces), Chelsey Gray (Las Vegas Aces), Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces), Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever) and Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings).
Reserves: Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces), Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream), Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun), Cheyenne Parker (Atlanta Dream, DeWanna Bonner (Connecticut Sun) and Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream). Howard was selected to replace Washington Mystics star Elena Delle Donne who will miss the game due to an ankle injury.
Team Stewart is as follows:
Starters: Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty), Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm), Satou Sabally (Dallas Wings) and Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks).
Reserves: Courtney Vandersloot (New York Liberty), Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty), Ezi Magbegor (Seattle Storm), Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever) and Kahleah Copper (Chicago Sky).
Aces head coach Becky Hammon will coach Team Wilson while Sun head coach Stephanie White will coach Team Stewart.
Format
The format for the WNBA All-Star Game is essentially the same as a regular season game in that it consists of four, ten minute quarters. Be sure to tune in on Saturday as some of the biggest and brightest stars in the WNBA go head to head.