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One week after announcing Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier as the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game captains, the league released the remaining list of players who will fill out the rosters. While most players rightfully received the nod, the event excluded a few notable names, as is usually the case.
For the first time, the league will follow the NBA's format, in which captains draft players from the eligible pool to fill out their competing teams. Clark, who broke the WNBA record for the most All-Star votes of all time, will lead Team Clark. Collier, who received the most votes from the Western Conference, will oppose her as the captain of Team Collier.
Paige Bueckers, Sabrina Ionescu and Allisha Gray join Clark as the starting guards. Collier tops the list of the six starting forwards, joined by A'ja Wilson, Nneka Ogwumike, Satou Sabally, Breanna Stewart and Aliyah Boston. Bueckers, the top pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft, is the lone starter receiving her first All-Star nod.
The WNBA also released a list of 11 reserves. Kelsey Plum headlined the reserve guards, which also included Skylar Diggins, Rhyne Howard, Gabby Williams, Kelsey Mitchell, Jackie Young and Sonia Citron. Alyssa Thomas topped the available reserve forwards, joined by Angel Reese, Kayla Thornton and Kiki Iriafen. The Washington Mystics' Iriafen and Citron joined Bueckers as the three rookies participating in the game.
As usual, the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game will feature 21 of the league's best players. However, for one reason or another, several players making admirable impacts early in the season were inappropriately left off the rosters. While injuries could change availability, here are our 2025 WNBA All-Star Game roster snubs at the time of the announcement.
5. C Brionna Jones, Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are already sending two players to the 2025 WNBA All-Star game, with guards Howard and Gray representing them in Indianapolis. However, considering the season Brionna Jones is having, they have a strong case for potentially adding her to the list.
Jones, a three-time All-Star, most recently received the honor in 2024 and is currently posting improved numbers across the board in 2025. In her first year with the Dream, the 29-year-old is averaging 14.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 51 percent from the floor. Jones is currently the league's seventh-leading rebounder.
All the attention on Atlanta's early-season success is on its guards, but the team's entire focus has been inside. The Dream signed Jones and Griner in the offseason to form one of the most imposing frontcourt duos in the league. The investment has paid off, but almost all the credit goes to Jones. After averaging 17.8 points per game in 2024, Griner has largely disappointed with just 9.9 points per game through her first 16 games.
Jones might not be the best center in the league, but she is inarguably one of the most consistent. Her efficiency is a big reason behind the Dream's hot start. She likely should have received the nod over Thornton or Iriafen, who have each had outstanding seasons thus far but are not as impactful as Jones is.
4. PF/C Azura Stevens, Los Angeles Sparks
After sitting out most of the 2024 season, Azura Stevens has already started as many games through the first two months of 2025 as she did all of last year. She has made an emphatic return thus far, promptly reminding the league that she is one of the best forwards when healthy.
Through the first half of the year, Stevens is averaging career-highs across the board, posting 14.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Her resurgence has been a welcome sight for the Los Angeles Sparks, who lacked a formidable paint presence in 2024 following Cameron Brink's ACL injury. Brink's impending return could eventually cut into Stevens' minutes, but for now, she has quietly developed into one of the best frontcourt players in the league.
Not only is Stevens the league's third-leading rebounder, but she has also been one of the best two-way players in 2025. The Sparks still leak points in the paint, but the 6-foot-6 Stevens has slowly become one of the best shot-blockers in the WNBA.
Like Jones, Stevens likely should be on the reserves list over Iriafen and Thornton. Stevens has also been better than Reese in every other category, except rebounding. All factors considered, Stevens' all-around game makes her one of the biggest 2025 WNBA All-Star Game roster snubs.
3. PG Natasha Cloud, New York Liberty
Just from looking at the stat sheet, Natasha Cloud does not seem like an All-Star. She only averages 10.1 points per game and is the fourth offensive option on a healthy New York Liberty squad. However, despite joining the team in the offseason, Cloud is arguably the defending champion's most important player.
Cloud has fully taken over as the primary facilitator, averaging 6.2 assists per game. The veteran guard is the clear leader of New York's elite offense, but she is potentially even more impactful on defense. Cloud is still one of the premier perimeter defenders in the WNBA, averaging 1.5 steals per game. The former All-Defensive first-team guard is as physical and tenacious as she has ever been in her career, despite playing her age-33 season.
Without Cloud, the Liberty would not be where they currently are. Their offense follows the lead of Stewart and Ionescu, but the whole team goes as far as Cloud takes them. Whenever the team is in trouble, it turns to Cloud, and not Stewart or Ionescu. While New York is clearly struggling with Jonquel Jones' extended absence, it would be in an even worse position without its point guard.
Cloud does not have the scoring numbers to match any of the current All-Star guards, but she is exponentially more important to the Liberty than either Jackie Young or Courtney Williams are to their respective squads. Young and Williams deserve their spots, but not more than Cloud.
2. PF/C Dearica Hamby, Los Angeles Sparks
Coming off her third All-Star appearance in 2024, Dearica Hamby is still improving in year 11. It took Hamby almost no time to adjust to the Sparks' new-look roster, as she seamlessly adjusted her game to fit in with Kelsey Plum and the returning Stevens. Through 19 games, Hamby is averaging 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.6 blocks per game.
With the Sparks' 2024 season quickly falling apart, Hamby's game skyrocketed to a new level. Los Angeles is still far from title contention, but it has already matched its 2024 win total at the season's midway point. Regardless, Hamby has continued to play at an elite level and is improving in multiple areas.
Her scoring and rebounding numbers are down a touch, but Hamby is averaging career-highs in assists, steals and blocks. She is also hitting 53.7 percent of her shots from the floor, the second-best mark of her decade-long career. While accepting more facilitating duties, Hamby further managed to decrease her turnovers from a career-worst 3.0 in 2024 to 2.8 in 2025.
As the league's 14th leading scorer and 10th leading rebounder, Hamby is one of just five players to rank in the top 15 of both categories. The other four — Wilson, Collier, Sabally and Ogwumike — will all be in the All-Star Game. Hamby's numbers suggest she is an elite forward and one of the biggest 2025 WNBA All-Star Game roster snubs.
1. PG/SG Brittney Sykes, Washington Mystics
Averaging a career-high 17.9 points and 4.6 assists per game, no player was snubbed from the 2025 All-Star roster more than Brittney Sykes. Despite being one of the most dynamic guards in the league since joining the Mystics in 2023, an All-Star nod continues to evade Sykes, and the trend somehow continues in 2025.
Sykes is clearly one of the best scorers in the league — averaging the 11th-most points per game — but has taken her game to a new level in 2025. In addition to posting personal-best assist numbers, Sykes is also shooting a career-high 37.5 percent from deep. She has always been elite off the bounce, but is now one of the best three-level scorers in the league.
Injuries previously kept Sykes off the All-Star roster, but they have not been an issue in 2025. After playing just 18 games in 2024, she has only missed three of the Mystics' first 18 games in her ninth season. Sykes was frustratingly inconsistent early in her career, leading to an up-and-down first eight years, but she has finally hit her stride. It is a shame the league did not reward her with the All-Star nod she definitely earned.
There are many talented guards in the WNBA, but few are undoubtedly ahead of Sykes. However, the most puzzling aspect of her dismissal is the inclusion of rookies Iriafen and Citron. Both have been undeniably superb to begin their careers, but Sykes is objectively Washington's best player. Iriafen made the cut as a forward, but it is difficult to see where Citron deserved the nod over Sykes. The Mystics will gladly send their two young stars to Indianapolis, but Sykes is easily the biggest WNBA All-Star roster snub of the year.
