LAS VEGAS, NV — The date has been selected, the venue is locked in and the players will arrive for a weekend of skills, fun and vibes in Sin City in mid-July as the 2023 WNBA All-Star weekend descends upon the basketball world. The two leading vote getters in Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart have been named team captains. Wilson also made news this week as the Aces announced she signed a two-year contract extension.
The other starters that include, Los Angeles Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike, Dallas Wings’ Satou Sabally and Arike Ogunbowale, Seattle Storm’s Jewell Loyd, Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner, Las Vegas Aces’ Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, and the first rookie to start since 2014 in Indiana Fever’s Aliyah Boston.
Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon and Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White will serve as head coaches for the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game. With Las Vegas having clinched the best record in the WNBA (15-1), Hammon and the Aces’ staff will coach Team Wilson. With the Sun having posted the second-best record (12-5), White and the Connecticut staff will guide Team Stewart.
The reserves have also been announced that include Alyssa Thomas and Elena Delle Donne.
- DeWanna Bonner, Sun (5th All-Star selection): Connecticut’s leading scorer, Bonner is an All-Star for the fifth time. She is averaging 17.6 points, the third-best mark of her 14 WNBA seasons and her highest total since 2020. On June 8, at the age of 35, Bonner scored a career-high and Sun franchise-record 41 points in a win over the Aces.
- Napheesa Collier, Lynx (3rd All-Star selection): Collier is pacing Minnesota in scoring with 22.4 ppg, more than six points above her prior career high. Collier made her All-Star debut in 2019 when she was named by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert as a replacement for the injured Wilson. She then participated in the 2021 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game as a member of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team.
- Kahleah Copper, Sky (3rd All-Star selection): The MVP of the 2021 WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, Copper is an All-Star for the third consecutive season. Copper is averaging a career-high 16.5 points, and her .415 three-point field goal percentage is the second-best figure of her career.
- Elena Delle Donne, Mystics (7th All-Star selection): The two-time WNBA MVP and two-time All-Star captain led Team Delle Donne against Team Wilson in 2019 in Las Vegas and against Team (Candace) Parker in 2018 in Minneapolis. Delle Donne ranks seventh in the league in scoring (19.5 ppg) and 19th in rebounding (6.3 rpg) this season. Her .500 field goal percentage, .390 percentage on three-point shots and .962 free throw shooting is nearly on par with her historic 50-40-90 effort of 2019.
- Allisha Gray, Dream (1st All-Star selection): The 2017 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year makes her All-Star debut in her first season with Atlanta and seventh season overall. Gray, who helped the U.S. to a gold medal in the 3×3 competition at the 2020 Olympics alongside Plum, Young and New York’s Stefanie Dolson, is posting career highs in scoring (18.3 ppg), rebounding (5.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (.481).
- Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty (2nd All-Star selection): Ionescu ranks second on the Liberty in scoring (15.3 ppg) behind Stewart and second in assists (4.7 apg) behind Vandersloot. The No. 1 overall draft pick in 2020, Ionescu made her All-Star debut and was an All-WNBA Team selection last year when she became the first player in league history to record at least 500 points, 200 rebounds and 200 assists in a season.
- Ezi Magbegor, Storm (1st All-Star selection): The final selection in the first round of the 2019 WNBA Draft, Magbegor, a native of Australia, debuted in the WNBA in 2020. Now, in her fourth WNBA season, she is an All-Star for the first time. Magbegor’s 15.1 points per game are nearly six points better than her prior career high, and her 8.6 rebounds are also a career best.
- Kelsey Mitchell, Fever (1st All-Star selection): The No. 2 pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and an All-Rookie Team selection that year, Mitchell will make her All-Star debut in her sixth WNBA season. Over the last three seasons, Mitchell ranked sixth in the league in scoring twice and eighth once. This season, she is averaging 17.0 points and her .384 three-point field goal percentage is the third-best figure of her career.
- Cheyenne Parker, Dream (1st All-Star selection): In her ninth season, Parker, the No. 5 draft pick in 2015, is a first-time All-Star. She is tied with Allie Quigley and Tangela Smith as the second-oldest players in terms of experience to make their All-Star debut. Only Plenette Pierson, named an All-Star for the first time in her 13th season, made her All-Star debut later in her career. Parker is averaging 15.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals and converting .891 percent of her free throws, all career-high figures.
- Kelsey Plum, Aces (2nd All-Star selection): Plum was the MVP of the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game after tyingMaya Moore’s All-Star Game record of 30 points in Team Wilson’s win over Team Stewart. Plum, an All-WNBA First Team selection in 2022 after being the WNBA Sixth Player of the Year the prior season, is averaging 17.1 points and 4.2 assists the second-highest figure of her career in each category.
- Alyssa Thomas, Sun (4th All-Star selection): A four-time WNBA All-Defensive Team selection, Thomas this season became the WNBA’s career triple-doubles leader for the regular season (5) and for the regular season and playoffs combined (7), with all of them coming since last year’s All-Star Game. Thomas is leading the league in rebounding (10.4 rpg) and steals (2.1 spg) and ranks second in assists (8.0 apg) and with career-high figures in each category. She also is averaging 14.6 points per game.
- Courtney Vandersloot, Liberty (5th All-Star selection): Vandersloot, who in 2021 led the WNBA in assists for the fifth consecutive season and sixth time overall, is again pacing the league this season (8.4 apg). She will be appearing in her fourth straight AT&T WNBA All-Star Game. Vandersloot made her All-Star debut as a reserve during her rookie season of 2011.
Both Wilson and Stewart will have their work cut out for them as they will have the pressure of selecting the best players for the respective squads. Looking at the list of talent in the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star game those decisions will be far from easy.
