The WNBA All-Star rosters are all set as the league made a big announcement. According to the WNBA, the league’s All-Star reserves have been decided.
WNBA head coaches around the league selected the reserves. The coaches had the task of voting for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position. Their choices at either position could come from either conference, but they were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
The reserves feature 12 players from around the league. There are six guards along with six frontcourt players. They will play behind the starters, which the league announced on Thursday.
The frontcourt reserves are New York Liberty’s Tina Charles, Indiana Fever’s Candice Dupree, Phoenix Mercury’s DeWanna Bonner, the Minnesota Lynx’ Sylvia Fowles, the Los Angeles Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike and the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas.
The guards also feature a group of talented players. The guard reserves are the Chicago Sky’s Diamond DeShields, Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot, Minnesota’s Odyssey Sims, the Washington Mystics’ Kristi Toliver, and the Indiana Fever’s Erica Wheeler.
The 2019 WNBA All-Star game takes place on Saturday, July 27. The game is at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, which is home of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. This year’s game will air on ABC at 3:30 pm ET. The starters for the game were chosen by fan voting with the players who received the most votes awarded captains of each team. Team Delle Donne faces Team Wilson as Elena Delle Donne and Aces player A’ja Wilson are team captains.
The team captains choose their rosters in an upcoming draft. Delle Donne and Wilson will choose from eight starters and then from the 12 reserves announced on Monday. Since Delle Donne was the top vote getter she will get to pick first.
Their draft begins with other starters such as Las Vegas’ Liz Cambage, Phoenix’s Brittney Griner, Los Angeles’ Chelsea Gray and Seattle’s Jewell Loyd. So, the All-Star rosters will feature several talented players.
Dupree and Charles lead all players with most All-Star game selections with seven. There are four players who will appear in their first All-Star game including Howard, Nurse, DeShields, Sims and Wheeler. No rookies were selected to the All-Star game.
The coaches for the game were determined by which two teams had the best records through July 12. The Las Vegas Aces was the top team with a record of 10-5 so Las Vegas head coach Bill Laimbeer and his staff will coach Team Delle Donne. Meanwhile, the Washington Mystics had the second best record at 9-5 so Washington head coach Mike Thibault and his staff will coach Team Wilson. This does create a unique situation since Wilson and Delle Donne will be switching their regular season coaches for the All-Star game.
Las Vegas will be hosting their first ever All-Star game this year creating an exciting event for fans. It gives them the chance to see their favorite players share the same court. There are several great players who will put on a show come the 27th.
This game should be a good one, and something fans can enjoy. All that’s left is for Delle Donne and Wilson to make their decisions.