The 2023 WNBA All-Star week is about to tip off soon, as the league announced the voting results on June 25th. This weekend has been added to the WNBA schedule since 1999. The 2022 All-Star weekend had the same captains as this year, held in Chicago. This year, the players will arrive in Las Vegas on July 15th to get in on the action.
The voting for starters has ended, and the 10 players will be divided into two teams, picked by two captains. A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty received the most votes from the fans. Both players will be making their fifth All-Star appearance this year and appearing as captains for the second consecutive year.
Wilson and Stewart will be making their picks for their starting five on July 8th. The picks will be broadcasted on ESPN, as the captains will also pick their reserves from a pool of 12 players that are yet to be selected by the league’s head coaches.
The 2023 WNBA All-Star game will present special appearances
So far, 10 players have been selected, who will play as starters. Among them, Brittney Griner will be making her 9th All-Star appearance, as her return had been anticipated by the WNBA fans. Apart from Griner, Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever will make her first appearance this All-Star weekend. Boston is the sixth rookie to start in an All-Star game since 2014. The following list includes all the starters that the fans have voted for.
- Aliyah Boston
- Chelsea Gray
- Brittney Griner
- Jewell Loyd
- Arike Ogunbowale
- Nneka Ogwumike
- Satou Sabally
- Breanna Stewart
- A’ja Wilson
- Jackie Young
Team Wilson defeated Team Stewart in the 2022 All-Star game, as A’ja will look to lead her team to its second consecutive victory. Apart from the captains, Brittney Griner and Nneka Ogwumike have the most All-Star game appearances, with 9 and 8 respectively. Griner made her return to the league quite recently, as fans wanted to see the Mercury in action.
While the fans had only accounted for 50% of the votes for the starters, the active WNBA players and media panel contributed 25% each. The reserves are yet to be finalized as they’ll only be revealed on the 8th of July. Whereas the All-Star game is scheduled for July 15th at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The league also states that if a player is unable to play on the final day, a replacement will be named by the commissioner, Cathy Engelbert.