Tag: WNBA All Star

Photo Courtesy of WomenTalkSports

A Brief History of the WNBA All-Star Game MVP

On Saturday, the WNBA held its marquee event. The league held its 16th All-Star Game. The event took place in Las Vegas.

Over the past few weeks, the league has prepared for this event by determining their team captains, their starters and the reserves of this game. The team captains were chosen due to being the leading vote-getters. Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics was the leading vote-getter and became team captain. A’ja Wilson became the second team captain after being second in All-Star votes. Once the other starters and reserves were announced, the two team captains selected their rosters in the WNBA All-Star draft.

With the rosters set, it was finally time for Team Delle Donne and Team Wilson to face off.

Every year, the WNBA gives the WNBA All-Star Game MVP to the player with the best performance. The league established the All-Star game in 1999 (two years after its first season), where former Los Angeles Sparks center and WNBA legend Lisa Leslie won the award. Leslie finished the game with 13 points as the West beat the East 79-61.

Leslie won the Game MVP two more times after her win in the inaugural All-Star game. She won in 2001 and 2002. The West won both games as she scored 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots in 2001. She had 18 points and 14 rebounds the following year. Leslie won a total of three MVPs during her time in the league. The only other player to do so is Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx, who won in 2015, 2017 and 2018. In last year’s game, Moore had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Swin Cash (then playing for the Seattle Storm) won the All-Star MVP in 2009 and 2011. Cash set a scoring record in 2009 as she scored 22 points. She followed up with 21 points in 2011.

Besides the multiple-time All-Star MVPs, there are several players that won throughout the years. Tina Thompson of the Houston Comets won in 2001, Nikki Teasley of the Sparks won in 2003. The next three All-Star games had three different MVPs as Sheryl Swoops, Katie Douglass and Cheryl Ford won in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Candace Parker won in 2013, and Shoni Schimmel won in 2014, as they were the last two MVPs before Maya Moore. So, the league has had an excellent, diverse group win All-Star MVP.

This year, the MVP went to a member of Team Wilson. This player had a fantastic game and was on fire from deep. She finished the game with 25 points and tied the All-Star record for most 3-pointers with seven. She joins Shoni Schimmel (who made seven 3-pointers in 2014’s game) and Kristi Toliver (who did the same in 2018). This year’s MVP was Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler.

Wheeler has an interesting backstory as she went undrafted out of Rutgers and went to play internationally. She earned a try-out with the Atlanta Dream in 2015 but was cut. Then, she briefly joined the New York Liberty before going back to international leagues. Wheeler found a home with the Indiana Fever in 2016 and has played for them since then.

Wheeler is a first-time All-Star. She earned her spot and made a name for herself on the big stage. She finished the game with 25 points including seven 3-pointers and seven assists while putting the league on notice. Wheeler won MVP as Team Wilson beat Team Delle Donne 129-126. Her win made her the first undrafted player to win All-Star MVP and the fifth undrafted player to be named an All-Star.

Wheeler’s MVP win was emotional as she could not hold back her tears. She dedicated her win to her mother (who she lost to cancer) as she told the world “I belong.”

“My main goal today was, ‘I want to be unforgettable once we play this game.’ And I think I did that,” Wheeler said.

The 2019 WNBA All-Star game was a good one. It was a competitive game that nearly came down to the wire and Wheeler’s game was unforgettable.

Wheeler joins the ranks of WNBA greats such as Lisa Leslie, Swin Cash, and others, and did it through hard work and perseverance. Her win is well-deserved.

Photo Courtesy of Lorie Shaull

Team Captains Delle Donne and Wilson Select All-Star Rosters

The WNBA All-Star rosters are officially set! On Tuesday night, team captains Elena Delle Donne and A’Ja Wilson selected their teammates through the WNBA All-Star Draft.

Delle Donne and Wilson select their teams

The draft is an annual event that allows the players that got the most votes to choose their rosters for the star-studded game on Saturday. The event took place on ESPN2 and featured both team captains as they made their picks.

The draft began with Delle Donne making the first pick of the draft. Delle Donne was the leading vote-getter this year with 32,460 fan votes. For her first pick, Delle Donne selected Phoenix Mercury center, Brittney Griner.

After Delle Donne selected Griner, Wilson selected Chelsea Gray of the Los Angeles Sparks.

The team captains went back and forth selecting from the other All-Star starters. Delle Donne selected Jewell Loyd, Jonquel Jones and Kia Nurse. Wilson selected her Aces teammates in Kayla McBride and Liz Cambage, but she also selected Natasha Howard of Seattle.

Wilson had the first choice of the reserves as Delle Donne had the first choice of starters. She chose Sylvia Fowles. Delle Donne chose her Mystics teammate Kristi Toliver with her first reserve pick. Then, both players went back and forth in picking reserves.

Wilson chose Diamond DeShields, Allie Quigley, Tina Charles (who she traded), Erica Wheeler, Candice Dupree and Odyssey Sims. She traded Charles to Delle Donne in exchange for Naphessa Collier (who will replace Wilson in the All-Star Game) . Delle Donne selected DeWanna Bonner, Nneka Ogwumike, Courtney Vandersloot, Naphessa Collier (who she traded) and Alyssa Thomas.

The team captains also traded coaches, Bill Laimbeer (head coach of the Las Vegas Aces) will coach Team Wilson, and Mike Thibault (head coach of the Washington Mystics) will coach Team Delle Donne. So, both players’ coaches are going to coach their All-Star teams.

All-Star Festivities Begin

The All-Star Game takes place on Saturday at 3:30 PM ET. It will be televised on ABC. The Skills challenge and 3 Point Contest takes place on Friday.

The team captains selected extremely talented players, who will come together and put on a show on Saturday.

With the rosters set, it is only a matter of waiting for the weekend. Fans are in for a treat.

Photo Courtesy of James Marvin Phelps

WNBA Announces All-Star Reserves

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.