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It's the second time in four years that three players from the
same team were chosen to start the game, with Las Vegas doing it
in 2023. Clark wasn't able to play in last year's game that the
Fever hosted because she was injured right before the All-Star
break.
Clark and Mitchell will be joined this year in the backcourt by
Dallas' Paige Bueckers and Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles. It's
the fourth consecutive year that a rookie was chosen as an
All-Star starter. Bueckers played last season.
A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Jessica Shepard, Natasha Howard
and Gabby Williams were selected for the frontcourt for the game
that will be played in Chicago on July 25. It will be Wilson's
and Stewart's eighth All-Star appearance while Shepard will be
making her first.
“It's an honor to be an All-Star, even though I've had a few of
them,” Stewart said. “Each one is really special and I'm not
taking it lightly.”
Williams played in her first All-Star Game last season. Howard
will play in her third.
Starters were chosen by a mixture of fan, player and media
votes. The fan vote counted for 50% while media and player votes
were 25% each. Each player’s score was calculated by averaging
their weighted rank from all three areas.
The league's head coaches will select the 12 reserves for the
team, results that will be announced Tuesday. The 15 head
coaches will vote for three guards, five frontcourt players and
four players at either position regardless of conference.
Coaches can’t vote for their own players.
New this year, WNBA greats Cynthia Cooper and Teresa
Weatherspoon will serve as honorary general managers and select
the two teams from the pool of All-Stars. Previously the top two
fan vote-getters would serve as captains and select the squads.
Bueckers, Clark and Boston were the top three vote-getters among
fans. All three received more than 1 million votes.
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