Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese make WNBA All-Star Game debut: Full roster

The rosters for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game have been set, with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese making their debuts within the annual showcase later this month.

Clark, the Indiana Fever's No. 1 pick on this 12 months's WNBA Draft, received essentially the most votes within the fan vote. After already being named Rookie of the Month in May, she leads all first-year players in points (16.2 points per game) and assists (6.9 per game) and is second within the league in 3-pointers made (56).

On Tuesday, Reese, the Chicago Sky's No. 7 pick, was named Rookie of the Month for June. Last weekend, she set a WNBA season record for consecutive double-doubles (10) and was the WNBA's leading rebounder before Tuesday night's game. Like Clark, Reese finished in the highest five in fan voting.

The countdown begins… ⏳

Get ready for the last word battle of talents. #WNBAAllStar will face the U.S. Women's National Team on July 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC 📺 pic.twitter.com/oEyJciHmEx

— WNBA (@WNBA) July 3, 2024

The two newcomers are the one two participating for the primary time within the exhibition, which takes place on July 20 in Phoenix.

“I'm just so happy. I know how much work I put in,” Reese said. “Coming into this league, so many people doubted me, didn't think my game would come through and I wouldn't be the player I was in college. … But I trusted the process and believed in it and am thankful that I fell back to (pick No. 7) and was able to come to Chicago.”

It is the primary time since 2014 that two newcomers are participating in the sport.

The 12 members of the 2024 U.S. Olympic team received automatic spots within the All-Star Game. Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, who’s making her sixth Olympic appearance, will even be making her eleventh All-Star Game. Her teammate, center Brittney Griner, will probably be making her tenth All-Star Game, including the 2022 12 months wherein she was an honorary participant.

The initial All-Star selections were made through a mixture of fan voting (50 percent), a national panel of media representatives (25 percent) and current WNBA players (25 percent). The remainder of the roster was chosen by the coaches.

The game format will once more be Team USA versus Team WNBA. In 2021, the last time this format was used, Team WNBA defeated the US Olympic team.

Team WNBA:

• DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut Sun (sixth All-Star Game)
• Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever (second)
• Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever (first)
• Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream (Second)
• Dearica Hamby, Los Angeles Sparks (third)
• Brionna Jones, Connecticut Sun (third)
• Jonquel Jones, New York Liberty (fifth)
• Kayla McBride, Minnesota Lynx (fourth)
• Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever (Second)
• Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings (fourth)
• Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm (ninth)
• Angel Reese, Chicago Sky (first)

Team USA:

• Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx (fourth)
• Kahleah Copper, Phoenix Mercury (fourth)
• Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces (sixth)
• Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury (10.)
• Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty (third)
• Jewell Lloyd, Seattle Storm (6.)
• Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces (third)
• Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty (sixth)
• Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury (11.)
• Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun (Fifth)
• A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces (sixth)
• Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces (third)

Were there any rejections?

As my colleague Sabreena Merchant and I wrote last week, choosing the WNBA team was at all times going to be difficult. There are reasonable arguments for every of the players chosen. And all teams except one (Washington Mystics) have at the very least one player within the tryouts.

However, possible absences include Storm center Ezi Magbegor, Lynx center Alanna Smith and Liberty wing Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. Magbegor is within the running for Defensive Player of the Year honors. She leads the WNBA in blocks (42), is seventh in rebounds per game (8.7), third in offensive rebounds per game (2.9), third in defensive win shares and fourth in total win shares. Earlier this season, she recorded at the very least three blocks in eight consecutive games, the second-longest streak in WNBA history.

Smith is the mainstay of a Lynx defense that has had the WNBA's best defensive rating (91.3) since 2007. This season, she has set recent profession highs in points, assists, steals and blocks. She is fourth in defensive win shares and has also shot a career-high 46.4 percent from 3-point range. Smith and Magbegor are expected to be key players on the Australian national team this summer, but with neither participating within the WNBA All-Star Game, just one international player is in contention (Jonquel Jones).

“I thought she had a good chance, too,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “She's really good, too, and we're a good team with a good record. … I just know these things aren't easy.”

Heading into Tuesday night's game against the Lynx, New York's versatile wing Laney-Hamilton led all WNBA players who’ve played in greater than five games in net rating (plus-19.9), and she or he's once more certainly one of the WNBA's best defenders.

Fever is essentially the most represented franchise within the WNBA team

After having no players on the U.S. Olympic team, the Fever had three players (Clark, Boston and Mitchell) named to Team WNBA, greater than every other franchise. Boston, who averages 13.1 points and eight.3 rebounds per game, finished second within the fan vote and was routinely named to the team because she was ranked in the highest 10.

Like Boston, Mitchell is making her second consecutive All-Star appearance. She averages 16.3 points per game and was certainly one of eight players chosen for the All-Star game after coaches' voting.

McBride and Hamby are the highlights of the All-Star returnees

McBride, the Lynx defenseman, is participating within the All-Star Game for the primary time since 2019. She is Minnesota's second-leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, her highest output since 2018, and the Lynx have the very best record within the Western Conference (14-4) before Tuesday.

“I'm excited,” Reeve said. “I thought this was going to be a no-brainer, but I'm excited to see it happen. She's had an incredible season so far. Career-best scoring and just the way we count on her, defense, passing, everything we ask her to do, playmaking. She just does everything for us.”

Hamby is making her third All-Star appearance and first since 2022. After being traded within the 2023 offseason, Hamby is appearing in the sport just over a 12 months after giving birth to her second child. She leads Los Angeles with career-highs of 18.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. She will even compete with the U.S. team's 3×3 squad on the Paris Olympics.

Required reading