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Alexa Philippou, ESPN
The WNBA announced Tuesday that rookies Kaitlyn Clark of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reyes of the Chicago Sky will headline a 12-player squad that will face the U.S. women’s national team in Phoenix on July 20 in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game.
Clark and Reese, the first and seventh picks in the 2024 draft, are the only first-time All-Stars in the group.
The dynamic duo’s history and on-court rivalry dates back to their playing days at Iowa and Louisiana State University, respectively, and they’ve helped propel women’s basketball into a new era of growth. Their three meetings in the first two months of the WNBA season have been decided by 10 points, and the soon-to-be All-Star teammates are the clear frontrunners in the Rookie of the Year race, with Clarke winning Rookie of the Month for May and Reese earning the honor for June.
The WNBA roster also features nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike and six-time All-Star Dewanna Bonner, while Clark’s Fever teammates Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell give Indiana — which has seen an explosion of interest in Clark — the most picks of any team with three.
Rounding out the group are Breonna Jones of the Connecticut Sun, Alisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream, Derica Hamby of the Los Angeles Sparks, Jonquel Jones of the New York Liberty, Kayla McBride of the Minnesota Lynx and Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings.
The top 10 players to receive All-Star votes – determined by 50% fan vote, 25% current player vote and 25% media vote – are automatically selected to participate in the All-Star Game, with those not previously selected to the 5-on-5 Olympic Team being assigned to the WNBA Team.
The 10 players, in alphabetical order, were: Boston, Clark, Napheesa Collier, Kahleigh Cooper, Hamby, Sabrina Ionescu, Ogunbowale, Brianna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young. Clark and Boston received the most fan votes, followed by Wilson, Stewart and Reese.
With Collier, Cooper, Ionescu, Stewart, Wilson and Young on Team USA, Boston, Clark, Hamby and Ogunbowale were automatically named to the WNBA team.
The league’s coaches then selected the rest of the WNBA team from a list of 36 top-voted players, ultimately choosing Bonner, Gray, Breonna Jones, Jonquel Jones, McBride, Mitchell, Ogwumike and Reese. The U.S. national team — which will seek an eighth straight gold medal in Paris starting later this month — also includes Diana Taurasi, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Jewel Lloyd, Kelsey Plum and Alyssa Thomas.
The starting players for both teams will be determined by their head coaches.
A number of WNBA stars previously played for the U.S. Olympic Team in the 2021 All-Star Game, which was won by the WNBA team led by MVP Ogunbowale.