NEW YORK (AP) — Caitlin Clark was voted to start her third straight All-Star Game and will be joined by Indiana Fever teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston, the WNBA announced Thursday.
It's the second time in four years that three players from the same team were chosen to start the game, with Las Vegas doing it in 2023. Clark wasn't able to play in last year's game that the Fever hosted because she was injured right before the All-Star break.
Clark and Mitchell will be joined this year in the backcourt by Dallas' Paige Bueckers and Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles. It's the fourth consecutive year that a rookie was chosen as an All-Star starter. Bueckers played last season.
A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Jessica Shepard, Natasha Howard and Gabby Williams were selected for the frontcourt for the game that will be played in Chicago on July 25. It will be Wilson's and Stewart's eighth All-Star appearance while Shepard will be making her first.
“It's an honor to be an All-Star, even though I've had a few of them,” Stewart said. “Each one is really special and I'm not taking it lightly.”
Williams played in her first All-Star Game last season. Howard will play in her third.
Starters were chosen by a mixture of fan, player and media votes. The fan vote counted for 50% while media and player votes were 25% each. Each player’s score was calculated by averaging their weighted rank from all three areas.
The league's head coaches will select the 12 reserves for the team. The 15 head coaches will vote for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference. Coaches can’t vote for their own players.
New this year, two WNBA greats will serve as honorary general managers and select the two teams from the pool of All-Stars. Previously the top two fan vote-getters would serve as captains and select the squads.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
