It would be fun to seriously analyze what could happen in the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game between Team Coop and Team Spoon (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
However, celebration supplants competition at the midseason event.
The game is an opportunity for the league’s best to engage in joyous on-court camaraderie, rather than stoke any competitive fires, even if honorary general managers Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon will try their best to inspire intensity.
Despite their efforts, there’s little probably little purpose in imagining the crunch-time lineups head coaches Becky Hammon and Cheryl Reeve, representing Team Coop and Team Spoon, respectively, would chose to deploy in order to gut out a closely-contested victory.
Could Team Coop flood the floor with elite shooting and no regard for size? What about a five of Paige Bueckers, Kelsey Mitchell, Marina Mabrey, Jackie Young or Sonia Citron? What if Team Spoon countered with a jumbo lineup of A’ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston, Jonquel Jones, Kiki Iriafen and Nneka Ogwumike?
Yes, the crazy competitive configurations could be fun. However, in forecasting what might happen in the United Center on Saturday night, we’ll try to be a bit more realistic.
Here are my three predictions for the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game. Be sure to share all of your All-Star hopes in the comments.
1. Dominique Malonga is going to dunk!
This has to be a near-guarantee. Dominique Malonga has to dunk it. And possibly more than once.
While I questioned whether the second-year Seattle Storm star deserved her All-Star honor, the reason she’s in Chicago is because of the great heights her game, already, reaches. And nothing epitomizes that more than a slam.
Malonga has yet to dunk in a WNBA game, although she thrilled Sephora Arena on multiple ocassions by throwing down dunks as a member of Breeze BC during the 2026 Unrivaled season.
While I expect her fellow All-Stars to clear the way for a Dom dunk on a breakaway, maybe the French phenom will be bold enough to posterize another All-Star in the halfcourt?
2. Angel Reese hits a deep 3, and wins MVP
When reviewing the All-Star rosters drafted by Cooper and Weatherspoon, I teased that Angel Reese, back in the city where she instantly ascended into WNBA stardom, would win MVP.
I’m sticking with that prediction, and adding to it.
Angel already has relaid her claim to the Windy City this weekend.
She not only expressed as much in her impromptu Thursday night concert with another former Sky player in Kahleah Copper, but she also graces the side of a Chicago building with fellow No. 5 All-Star Paige Bueckers as part of a Coach ad campaign. And then there’s her official partnership with Barbie, headlined by the debut of the basketball-playing Angel Reese Signature Barbie and the forthcoming pink-and-white Barbie-branded colorway of her Reebok signature shoe, along with a full slate of Angel x Barbie merch.
Plus, when does Reese ever take the court and NOT make her presence known?
All-Star games often feature an excess of overly-ambitious shots that miss the target, giving Angel plenty of opportunities to clean up on the glass. She can grab the offensive board for an easy putback; after a defensive rebound, she can run the break, dishing it to a teammate for a score. (Maybe, Angel will assist Dom’s dunk?)
Ever eager to expand her game even further, Angel’s also not going to be shy about firing off a deep 3 or two, and I think one will find the bottom of the net.
3. Huskies, Irish and Gamecocks, oh my!
UConn, Notre Dame and South Carolina are three of the, if not THE, definitional women’s basketball programs, achieving success at the collegiate level with players who go on to thrive in the WNBA.
Overall, there are 11 Huskies, Irish and Gamecocks who were named 2026 WNBA All-Stars, giving us more than enough to fill out the court with only UConn, Notre Dame and South Carolina players.
Team Coop has the Husky trio of Bueckers, Breanna Stewart and Gabby Williams, although head coach Reeve is missing her favorite Husky in Napheesa Collier. They also have three Irish in Mabrey, Young and Citron.
Team Spoon has the heavy South Carolina slant, with three national championship-winning Gamecocks in Wilson, Allisha Gray and Boston. They’ll be flanked by Notre Dame’s Jessica Shepard and Olivia Miles.
In this matchup fantasyland, I would favor Team Coop and their more balanced roster. Stewie, Gabby and Jackie is quite the defensive foundation, and then Paige runs point with Marina or Sonia serving as the shooting guard. However, envisioning what A’ja and Liv, or Baby Chelsea Gray, could cook up in the pick-and-roll, with Lish and AB spacing the floor, might be enough for Team Spoon.
