The 2024 WNBA All-Star Game will look a little different than the standard. For one, there will be actual defense played when the 24 players take the court at Footprint Center in Phoenix for Saturday’s showcase (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
It will be the second time the league has played an All-Star game in the Team USA vs. Team WNBA format, though the teams have played exhibition games in the past. The national team will then head to an exhibition game against Germany in London before flying to Lille, France, for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The WNBA team will certainly want bragging rights and is tasked with testing the national team as it strives to win an eighth straight gold medal.
That alone should convince fans, but if not, here’s what else we’re looking forward to.
Life moves fast. It’s been less than two and a half years since Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese squared off in the historic 2023 national title game. Their rivalry is reminiscent of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and both players have fervent fan bases.
They’ll be on the same sideline this weekend as the first pair of rookie All-Stars since 2014. That means we’ll soon see Clark, the WNBA’s new single-game assists record holder, feed Reese, the league’s double-double streak record holder, with bragging rights on Team USA on the line. Could one of them join Shoni Schimmel, the No. 8 overall pick in 2014, as rookie All-Star MVP?
There’s a chance Clark and Reese could compete on the opposite side in the future. Clark was in the running for the team even though she wasn’t able to attend a senior national camp. Reese said this month that she wants to play for Team USA someday.
Clark leads the league in assists (8.2 apg) and all rookies in scoring (17.1 ppg). Reese ranks second in the league in rebounds (11.9 rpg) and second among rookies in scoring (13.5 ppg). They are leading candidates for Rookie of the Year.
Love and Basketball: AT vs. DB
Speaking of fun opponents, Connecticut’s favorite power couple is set to face off before heading to Paris. Alyssa Thomas, the Sun’s all-around forward, made her first national team this year after rehabbing an Achilles tendon during the 2021 cycle. She’ll be facing off against her fiancé, Team WNBA All-Star DeWanna Bonner. Bonner is making her sixth All-Star appearance in her 14th season.
The two are focal points of the Suns’ identity, especially Thomas. The former MVP candidate known as “The Engine” was drafted fourth overall by Liberty in 2014 and was immediately traded to Connecticut for Tina Charles. She has spent her entire career there, where she has yet to win a title despite Connecticut being the league’s winningest franchise from 2017-2022. This is her fifth All-Star appearance and her third straight.
Bonner spent the first 10 seasons of her career in Phoenix after the Mercury drafted her fifth overall in 2009. The veteran wing won two WNBA titles — oddly enough, in both her and Thomas’ rookie seasons — and joined the Sun in February 2020 in a blockbuster trade that was supposed to give the team its final leg up on a championship run. Injuries have since scuppered that plan. Bonner is making her second straight All-Star appearance and her third with Connecticut.
Thomas and Bonner were All-Star teammates last year and played sparingly on A’ja Wilson’s team, which lost to Breanna Stewart. A normal format would make this battle more fun, but it’s still tempting.
Who will be joining Team USA?
Will it be Arike Ogunbowale again? Ogunbowale scored nine of her 26 points in the fourth quarter for Team WNBA in the 2021 All-Star victory over Team USA. She won MVP honors in her first All-Star appearance and has played in every appearance since.
Ogunbowale, the Dallas Wings’ leading scorer with 22.3 ppg, trails only A’ja Wilson (27.2 ppg) and Kahleah Copper (23.2 ppg) this season. She said last month that she had removed her name from consideration for the national team due to “politics.”
The other contenders to face Team USA? How about the entire Team WNBA roster? Ogunbowale and Dearica Hamby (19.2 ppg) are the only players in the league’s top-10 scoring average who aren’t on the 5×5 national team. Hamby was called up to play 3×3 after Cameron Brink’s injury.
Clark is a prolific scorer who can light up the board quickly and has found her groove in recent weeks. Could she set an assists record against the national team she will likely one day lead?
Nneka Ogwumike (17.4 ppg, 11th) could get the best of the national team’s forwards in her ninth All-Star appearance, the most on Team WNBA and third behind Diana Taurasi (11) and Brittney Griner (10). Jonquel Jones has had monster games for New York.
The biggest name who could do it — and has done it before — is Chennedy Carter, the Sky guard who didn’t make the All-Star roster. She holds the college scoring record with 34 points for Texas A&M against Team USA in 2019.
3×3 is central
As intriguing as it will be to watch Griner, a 6-foot-6 center, compete against guards Sophie Cunningham (Mercury), Allisha Gray (Dream), Marina Mabrey (Sun) and Erica Wheeler (Fever) in the skills competition, the real news on Wednesday night was the 3×3 special exhibition.
The 3×3 national team of Hamby (Sparks), Rhyne Howard (Dream), Hailey Van Lith (TCU) and Cierra Burdick (former WNBA star) is also in training camp in Phoenix and will face the USA Basketball U23 team as part of the All-Star skills festivities on Friday. The U23 team, which will compete in the FIBA 3×3 Nations League tournament in Mexico City next week, includes students Cotie McMahon (Ohio State), Lucy Olsen (Iowa), Mikaylah Williams (LSU), Christina Dalce (Maryland), Morgan Maly (Creighton) and Serah Williams (Wisconsin).
The format is growing rapidly as a fast, fluid, outdoor half-court game to watch. Unprecedented, the league Stewart and Napheesa Collier are launching in 2025 is a 3×3 format. The company is planning events in Phoenix and has public support from WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
In addition to the skills competition, five players will compete in the 3-point competition. They are Liberty center Jonquel Jones (39.5%, 10th; 4.0 attempts, 26th), Mystics center Stefanie Dolson (48.5%, 23rd; 4.2 attempts, 23rd), Lynx guard Kayla McBride (42.7%, 7th; 7.1 attempts, 6th), Gray (36%, 28th; 4.8, 18th) and Mabrey, a sharpshooter who has been in a bit of a slump.
Griner is the only Olympian competing in the events. Most players are likely trying to avoid potential injuries before the Games or focus specifically on Team USA during camp.
All-Star hype continues to grow
The WNBA’s All-Star Game hasn’t always been as exciting as it has been in years past. This iteration is a little different, and it involves some real basketball, defense and all. But it goes beyond the court. All-Star is a event now for players and fans. Phoenix seems to be leaning in hard under its new ownership and front office, which is nice to see since women’s basketball often forgets its past.
Cheryl Miller, a Hall of Fame legend at USC, will lead Team WNBA in a nod to the league and the team’s history. She was the Mercury’s first head coach from 1997-2000, leading the team to its first WNBA Finals appearance, which it lost to the four-time champion Houston Comets dynasty. She will be joined on the bench by Adrian Williams, who played for the franchise from 2000-2004.
The franchise will unveil its new $70 million training facility, a property that is still a novelty for teams. The courts will be named after Taurasi, the league’s all-time leading scorer who is widely regarded as the GOAT. The All-Star court will honor the Mercury and the city of Phoenix, which has spent the past year preparing to host the annual event. That’s also not historically common.
