Rookie sensations Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky headline the 12-player Crew WNBA that can face the U.S. girls’s nationwide crew in Phoenix on July 20 within the 2024 WNBA All-Star Recreation, the league introduced Tuesday night time.
Clark and Reese, the respective No. 1 and No. 7 picks within the 2024 draft, are the one first-time All-Stars of the group.
Courting to their taking part in days at Iowa and LSU, respectively, the dynamic pair and their on-court rivalry have helped propel girls’s basketball to a brand new period of progress. Their three conferences throughout the primary two months of the WNBA season have been determined by a mixed 10 factors, and the soon-to-be All-Star teammates are the clear front-runners within the Rookie of the 12 months race, with Clark taking residence Rookie of the Month for Could and Reese incomes the honour for June.
“I do not suppose I’ve ever been her teammate earlier than, even at USA Basketball. I do know folks shall be actually enthusiastic about it, however I hope it does not take away from everybody else,” Clark mentioned. “This can be a large accomplishment for everyone on Crew USA and everybody on Crew WNBA. All of them deserve the identical reward. I do not need it to remove from any of that and be the point of interest of All-Star weekend as a result of that is not honest to them.”
Reese received emotional after being knowledgeable she made the All-Star crew, talking to reporters by means of tears after serving to Chicago beat Atlanta on Tuesday night time.
“I am simply so blissful. I do know the work I put in,” mentioned Reese, who had 12 factors and 19 rebounds within the 85-77 win. “Coming into this league, so many individuals doubted me and did not suppose my recreation would translate and I would not be the participant that I used to be in school or higher or could be worse and would not be the place I’m proper now.
“However I trusted the method and I believed and I am grateful that I dropped to [pick No. 7] and was in a position to come to Chicago. And like, it is only a blessing. I can not thank my teammates and my coaches sufficient for simply believing in me and trusting me. I do know all of them are going to return to Phoenix and assist me. So I am actually blissful proper now.”
The Crew WNBA roster can also be highlighted by nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike and six-time All-Star DeWanna Bonner. Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell give Indiana — which has seen an explosion of curiosity with Clark in tow — essentially the most alternatives of any crew with three.
“It is a actually, actually huge factor for our franchise,” Mitchell mentioned. “It sort of exhibits the place we’re as gamers and the place we aspire to be individually.”
“We’ll be on the identical crew and a minimum of have one another,” Clark mentioned. “It exhibits the expertise now we have … the longer term is vibrant.”
The group is rounded out by the Connecticut Solar’s Brionna Jones, Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Grey, Los Angeles Sparks’ Dearica Hamby, New York Liberty’s Jonquel Jones, Minnesota Lynx’s Kayla McBride and Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale.
The highest 10 All-Star vote-getters — decided by 50% fan voting, 25% present participant voting and 25% media voting — have been robotically named to the All-Star Recreation, with those that weren’t beforehand named to the Olympic 5-on-5 crew assigned to Crew WNBA.
These 10 gamers have been, in alphabetical order: Boston, Clark, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Hamby, Sabrina Ionescu, Ogunbowale, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Younger. Clark and Boston acquired essentially the most fan votes, adopted by Wilson, Stewart and Reese.
With Collier, Copper, Ionescu, Stewart, Wilson and Younger on Crew USA, Boston, Clark, Hamby and Ogunbowale have been robotically named to Crew WNBA.
The league’s coaches then stuffed out the remainder of the Crew WNBA roster choosing from an inventory of the subsequent 36 highest vote-getters, finally choosing Bonner, Grey, Brionna Jones, Jonquel Jones, McBride, Mitchell, Ogwumike and Reese. The U.S. nationwide crew — which is able to go for an eighth consecutive Olympic gold in Paris beginning later this month — additionally options Diana Taurasi, Chelsea Grey, Brittney Griner, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum and Alyssa Thomas.
Starters for each groups shall be decided by their respective head coaches.
A gaggle of WNBA All-Stars beforehand performed the U.S. Olympic crew in an All-Star Recreation in 2021, which was received by Crew WNBA and led by MVP Ogunbowale.
ESPN’s Michael Voepel contributed to this report.