A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart headline 2023 WNBA All-Star starters

BasketballNews.com Staff
June 26 2023

Two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and 2018 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty lead the list of 10 players – four guards and six frontcourt players – selected by fans, current WNBA players and media to start in the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game set to be played on July 15 at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas (ABC, 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET).  

The starters were revealed today during ABC’s broadcast of a game between the Liberty and Washington Mystics.

Wilson and Stewart, each selected as an All-Star for the fifth time, will serve as official team captains by virtue of being the two All-Star starters who finished with the most fan votes. This marks the second consecutive year that Wilson and Stewart finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in fan voting.

Last year, Team Wilson defeated Team Stewart 134-112 at the 2022 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago. Wilson also served as a captain when she led Team Wilson past Team (Elena) Delle Donne 129-126 in the 2019 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas.

Joining Wilson and Stewart as starters in the frontcourt are 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever, nine-time All-Star Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury, 2016 Kia WNBA MVP and eight-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks and two-time All-Star Satou Sabally of the Dallas Wings.

The starting backcourt will feature five-time All-Stars Chelsea Gray of Las Vegas and Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm, three-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale of Dallas and two-time All-Star Jackie Young of Las Vegas.

Voting will now begin for the 12 AT&T WNBA All-Star reserves, who will be selected by the league’s head coaches. The head coaches will vote for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference. They may not vote for their own players.

The reserves will be announced on Saturday, July 1. If a player is unable to play in AT&T WNBA All-Star, a replacement will be named by WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

The captains will draft their rosters by selecting first from the pool of eight remaining starters and then from the pool of 12 reserves. ESPN will broadcast the WNBA All-Star Team Selection Special on July 8 (1 p.m. ET).