Paige Bueckers Headlines WNBA All-Star Game Starting Five
Paige Bueckers, the first draft pick of the Dallas Wings, leads the starting five of the WNBA All-Star Game, announced this Monday. This group will join captains Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier in Indianapolis on July 19. Bueckers becomes the sixth number one draft pick to start in the All-Star game as a rookie, following in the footsteps of Clark (2024), Aliyah Boston (2023), Maya Moore (2011), Sue Bird (2002), and Chamique Holdsclaw (1999). The starting lineups were selected from the entire WNBA, regardless of conference. Players and a media panel joined fans in selecting the starters. Fan voting represented 50%, while player and media voting each represented 25%. Bueckers received the sixth-highest number of fan votes and was second in the base voting, only surpassed by Clark. Bueckers, the only rookie All-Star in the starting group, ranks 11th in the league in scoring (18.4 points) and sixth in assists (5.8), leading rookies in both categories. She will be the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game in the history of the Dallas Wings. The only other rookies in franchise history selected for the game were Cheryl Ford in 2003 (as Detroit Shock) and Liz Cambage in 2011 (as Tulsa Shock). Also announced as starters on Monday were the usual All-Star Game regulars A’ja Wilson of the Aces, Breanna Stewart of the Liberty, and Nneka Ogwumike of Seattle. With her tenth All-Star selection, Ogwumike ties for third in All-Star appearances with Tamika Catchings and Brittney Griner. Bird leads all players with 13 selections, followed by Diana Taurasi’s 11. Stewart and Wilson will participate in their seventh All-Star Game. Wilson currently ranks second in the league in scoring average (21.6) and Stewart third (20). Collier, who along with Clark was named captain on Sunday for receiving the most fan votes, leads the league with 24.4 points per game. Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream and Sabrina Ionescu of the Liberty complete the selections for the backcourt, along with Clark and Bueckers. Boston of Indiana and Satou Sabally of Phoenix complete the starters for the frontcourt. Boston finished with less than 1,400 votes behind Minnesota’s star, Collier, for second place in the fan voting. Although Clark finished first in the fan voting, she was ninth in the players’ voting and third in the media voting for the bases. Wilson led all the forward line players in the media and player voting. Kelsey Mitchell of Indiana and Angel Reese of Chicago were on the cusp of being All-Star starters, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, in their positions.Next, on Sunday, 12 reserves will be announced on the WNBA’s social and digital platforms. These players are selected by the league’s head coaches, who will vote for three guards, five frontcourt players, and four players of any position. Coaches cannot select players from their own team.
Once the reserves are announced and the full rosters are decided, Clark and Collier will choose their teams on July 8 at 7 p.m. ET during “WNBA Countdown” before the Liberty face the Aces on ESPN.
