Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson will team up against Paige Bueckers, Breanna Stewart and Clark’s Indiana teammate, Kelsey Mitchell, in the WNBA All-Star Game on July 25 in Chicago.
Basketball Hall of Famers Teresa Weatherspoon and Cynthia Cooper served as this year’s general managers and drafted the teams Wednesday night.
Bueckers and Clark topped the fan voting for the game, so they were assigned to opposing teams based on a coin flip. Cooper — whose team will be known as “Team Coop” — won the coin flip and received Bueckers while Clark was placed on “Team Spoon.”
Weatherspoon received the first pick among the rest of the starters and it was a no-brainer to take four-time league MVP Wilson, who leads the WNBA in scoring (25.5 points per game) and blocks (2.0 per game) while ranking third in rebounds (9.8 per game).
Two-time MVP Stewart was Cooper’s first choice — setting up the All-Star Game to match one elite young guard/veteran forward tandem against another.
The rest of Team Spoon’s starting lineup will be Minnesota Lynx star rookie Olivia Miles, Clark’s Fever teammate Aliyah Boston and Dallas Wings forward Jessica Shepard, who’s having a breakout season. On the other end of the floor for Team Coop, Bueckers and Stewart will be joined by Mitchell (second in the league in scoring), Minnesota’s Natasha Howard and Golden State’s Gabby Williams.
Aces coach Becky Hammon will coach Clark and her longtime Las Vegas star player Wilson on Team Spoon. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve will take charge of Team Coop.
The winning team gets $70,000 for a charitable cause of their choice and the losing side receives $30,000 for the same. Both organizations in question are focused on helping young female athletes in the Chicago area.
Full rosters:
Team Coop (Coach: Cheryl Reeve)
Starters:
Paige Bueckers (DAL)
Breanna Stewart (NY)
Kelsey Mitchell (IND)
Natasha Howard (MIN)
Gabby Williams (GS)
Bench:
Angel Reese (ATL)
Marina Mabrey (TOR)
Dominique Malonga (SEA)
Kelsey Plum (LA)
Jackie Young (LV)
Sonia Citron (WAS)
Team Spoon (Coach: Becky Hammon)
Starters:
Caitlin Clark (IND)
A’ja Wilson (LV)
Olivia Miles (MIN)
Aliyah Boston (IND)
Jessica Shepard (DAL)
Bench:
Rhyne Howard (ATL)
Allisha Gray (ATL)
Jonquel Jones (NY)
Courtney Williams (MIN)
Kiki Iriafen (WAS)
Nneka Ogwumike (LA)
–Field Level Media
