WNBA All-Star Game

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The Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game, commonly referred to as the WNBA All-Star Game, is an annual exhibition basketball game played in the United States between the best players of the Western and Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game
FrequencyAnnual
Inaugurated1999
Most recent2024 (Phoenix)
Previous event2023 (Las Vegas)
Next event2025 (Indianapolis)
ParticipantsEastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars
Organized byWomen's National Basketball Association
Logo for the inaugural WNBA All-Star Game, held in 1999

Structure

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Each conference is represented by a team of 12 players who are currently having the best seasons performance-wise around the league. The starters are determined by fans voting through internet ballots. The rest of the players are selected by league personnel including head coaches as well as media personalities. At the end of the game, an all-star game Most Valuable Player (MVP) is named, as decided by a panel of media members.

History

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In 2004, the game was not played in its usual format due to the WNBA players competing in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. That year, the USA national team defeated a team of WNBA All-Stars 74–58 at Radio City Music Hall.[1][2] This game is officially considered to be an exhibition rather than an All-Star Game. The league also took a month-long break to accommodate players and coaches who would be participating in the summer games.

The tradition of not playing the WNBA All-Star Game during an Olympic year has continued in 2008, 2012, and 2016 (along with the tradition of taking a month-long break during the regular season). The 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the same reason, the beginning of the 2020 WNBA season has been delayed. The league later announced a revised 22-game schedule, but no all-star game was played.

No official All-Star Game was held in 2010. Instead, there was an exhibition game matching the USA national team against a WNBA All-Star team, with Team USA winning 99–72 at Mohegan Sun Arena.[3]

The Western Conference leads the overall series 10–4.

All-Star Game results

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Eastern Conference (4 wins) Western Conference (10 wins)


Year Result Host arena Host city Game MVP
1999 West 79, East 61[4][5] Madison Square Garden New York, New York Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks
2000 West 73, East 61[6][7] America West Arena Phoenix, Arizona Tina Thompson, Houston Comets
2001 West 80, East 72[8] TD Waterhouse Centre Orlando, Florida Lisa Leslie (2), Los Angeles Sparks (2)
2002 West 81, East 76[9] MCI Center Washington, D.C. Lisa Leslie (3), Los Angeles Sparks (3)
2003 West 84, East 75[10] Madison Square Garden (2) New York, New York (2) Nikki Teasley, Los Angeles Sparks (4)
2004 The Game at Radio City
2005 West 122, East 99[11] Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, Connecticut Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets (2)
2006 East 98, West 82[12] Madison Square Garden (3) New York, New York (3) Katie Douglas, Connecticut Sun
2007 East 103, West 99[13] Verizon Center Washington, D.C. (2) Cheryl Ford, Detroit Shock
2008 No game due to the 2008 Summer Olympics
2009 West 130, East 118[14] Mohegan Sun Arena (2) Uncasville, Connecticut (2) Swin Cash, Seattle Storm
2010 Stars at the Sun
2011 East 118, West 113[15] AT&T Center San Antonio, Texas Swin Cash (2), Seattle Storm (2)
2012 No game due to the 2012 Summer Olympics
2013 West 102, East 98 Mohegan Sun Arena (3) Uncasville, Connecticut (3) Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks (5)
2014 East 125, West 124 (OT) US Airways Center (2) Phoenix, Arizona (2) Shoni Schimmel, Atlanta Dream
2015 West 117, East 112 Mohegan Sun Arena (4) Uncasville, Connecticut (4) Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx
2016 No game due to the 2016 Summer Olympics
2017 West 130, East 121 KeyArena Seattle, Washington Maya Moore (2), Minnesota Lynx (2)
2018 Team Parker 119, Team Delle Donne 112 Target Center Minneapolis, Minnesota Maya Moore (3), Minnesota Lynx (3)
2019 Team Wilson 129, Team Delle Donne 126 Mandalay Bay Events Center Las Vegas, Nevada Erica Wheeler, Indiana Fever
2020 No game due to the 2020 Summer Olympics, which was later postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Team WNBA 93, Team USA 85 Michelob Ultra Arena (2) Las Vegas, Nevada (2) Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings (2)
2022 Team Wilson 134, Team Stewart 112 Wintrust Arena Chicago, Illinois Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces
2023 Team Stewart 143, Team Wilson 127 Michelob Ultra Arena (3) Las Vegas, Nevada (3) Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm (3)
2024 Team WNBA 117, Team USA 109 Footprint Center (3) Phoenix, Arizona (3) Arike Ogunbowale (2), Dallas Wings (3)
2025 Gainbridge Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana

Three-Point Contest

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The Three-Point Contest, formerly referred to as the Three-Point Shootout, was held during the All-Star Game event from 2006 to 2010, and then again from 2017 to the present.

^ Denotes players who are still active
* Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame
Player (#) Denotes the number of times the player has won
Team (#) Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won
Location (#) Denotes the number of times a location has hosted the competition
Year Winner Team Final score / max % shots made Other contestants
2006 Dawn Staley* Houston Comets 17 / 30 56.6% Katie Douglas, Katie Smith, Diana Taurasi
2007 Laurie Koehn Washington Mystics 25 / 30 83.3% Diana Taurasi, Penny Taylor, Katie Douglas, Deanna Nolan
2009 Becky Hammon* San Antonio Silver Stars 16 / 30 53.3% Sue Bird, Katie Smith, Shameka Christon, Katie Douglas, Diana Taurasi
2010 Katie Douglas Indiana Fever 23 / 30 76.6% Lindsay Whalen, Swin Cash, Sue Bird, Monique Currie, Angel McCoughtry
2017 Allie Quigley^ Chicago Sky 27 / 34 79.4% Sugar Rodgers, Maya Moore, Jasmine Thomas, Sue Bird
2018 Allie Quigley^ (2) Chicago Sky (2) 29 / 34 85.3% Kayla McBride, Kristi Toliver, Jewell Loyd, Renee Montgomery, Kelsey Mitchell
2019 Shekinna Stricklen Connecticut Sun 23 / 34 67.6% Kayla McBride, Allie Quigley, Kia Nurse, Erica Wheeler, Chelsea Gray
2021 Allie Quigley^ (3) Chicago Sky (3) 28 / 40 70.0% Jonquel Jones, Sami Whitcomb, Jewell Loyd
2022 Allie Quigley^ (4) Chicago Sky (4) 30 / 40 75.0% Ariel Atkins, Rhyne Howard, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum
2023 Sabrina Ionescu^ New York Liberty 37 / 401 92.5% DiJonai Carrington, Kelsey Mitchell, Arike Ogunbowale, Sami Whitcomb, Jackie Young
2024 Allisha Gray^ Atlanta Dream 22 / 401 55.0% Jonquel Jones, Kayla McBride, Stefanie Dolson, Marina Mabrey
1 All-time record score for a WNBA or NBA Three-Point Contest, surpassing the NBA record of 31 points set by Stephen Curry in Atlanta (2021), which Tyrese Haliburton equaled in Salt Lake City (2023). However, Ionescu used a smaller WNBA regulation ball to set the record. Ionescu also competed with Curry in a head-to-head shootout at the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, with both players shooting from the NBA 3-point line but using WNBA and NBA balls, respectively.[16]

Three Point Contest champions by franchise

No. Franchise Last win
4 Chicago Sky 2022
1 Atlanta Dream 2024
1 New York Liberty 2023
1 Connecticut Sun 2019
1 Indiana Fever 2010
1 San Antonio Silver Stars 2009
1 Washington Mystics 2007
1 Houston Comets 2006

Skills Challenge

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The WNBA introduced the Dribble, Dish & Swish Challenge starting during the 2003 WNBA All-Star Game.[17] It became renamed to the Skills Challenge was held during the All-Star Game event during 2006–2007, 2010, 2019, and 2022-2024. The most recent Skills Challenge rules were "a classic obstacle course format that will challenge players' abilities in each key facet of the game: dribbling, passing and shooting. In the first round, each player will maneuver around the course as fast as possible, and the players with the two fastest times will advance to the final round. There, they'll repeat the course, and the player with the fastest time in the final round will receive the trophy."[18]

^ Denotes players who are still active
* Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame
Player (#) Denotes the number of times the player has won
Team (#) Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won
Location (#) Denotes the number of times a location has hosted the competition
Year Winner Team Final Time/Competitor Other contestants
2003 Dawn Staley* Charlotte Sting [17]
2005 Sue Bird Seattle Storm Becky Hammon Tamika Catchings, Diana Taurasi, Deanna Nolan, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, DeMya Walker, Marie Ferdinand
2006 Seimone Augustus* Minnesota Lynx 28.5 Sue Bird, Cappie Pondexter, Deanna Nolan
2007 Becky Hammon* San Antonio Silver Stars 27.1 Seimone Augustus, Betty Lennox, Nikki Teasley
2009 Cappie Pondexter Phoenix Mercury 34.8 Jia Perkins, Tamika Catchings, Sancho Lyttle, Swin Cash, Nicole Powell, Nicky Anosike, Alana Beard, Asjha Jones, Sylvia Fowles
Sophia Young San Antonio Silver Stars (2)
Charde Houston Minnesota Lynx (2)
2010 Renee Montgomery Connecticut Sun 25.0 Cappie Pondexter, Lindsay Whalen, Iziane Castro Marques, Lindsey Harding, Angel McCoughtry
2019 Diamond DeShields ^ Chicago Sky Jonquel Jones Courtney Vandersloot, Sami Whitcomb, Napheesa Collier, Odyssey Sims, Elizabeth Williams, Brittney Griner
2022 Sabrina Ionescu^ New York Liberty NaLyssa Smith Courtney Vandersloot, Jonquel Jones, Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum, Azura Stevens, Rhyne Howard
2023 Kelsey Plum^ Las Vegas Aces Courtney Vandersloot
Sabrina Ionescu
Allisha Gray, Cheyenne Parker, Arike Ogunbowale, Satou Sabally
Chelsea Gray^
2024 Allisha Gray^ Atlanta Dream Sophie Cunningham Brittney Griner, Kelsey Mitchell, Marina Mabrey

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "USA BASKETBALL 74, WNBA ALL". ESPN. Archived from the original on August 26, 2004. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  2. ^ "Fowles' third quarter helps Team USA power past WNBA All-Stars". ESPN. July 10, 2010. Archived from the original on July 13, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  3. ^ Hays, Graham (July 9, 2010). "Win a good start for Team USA". ESPN. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  4. ^ "1999 WNBA All-Star Game: Box Score". WNBA.COM. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  5. ^ "1999 WNBA All-Star Game Notes". WNBA.COM. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  6. ^ "2000 WNBA All-Star Game: Box Score". WNBA.COM. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  7. ^ "2000 WNBA All-Star Game Notes". WNBA.COM. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  8. ^ Rubinstein, Barry (July 16, 2001). "2001 WNBA All-Star Game Recap". WNBA.COM. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  9. ^ "2002 WNBA All-Star Game Recap". WNBA.COM. July 25, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  10. ^ "Teasley Keeps MVP Trophy in the Sparks Family". WNBA.COM. July 25, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  11. ^ "West wins highest-scoring All-Star Game by largest margin". WNBA.COM. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  12. ^ "Douglas Shines Bright as East Notch First Victory". WNBA.COM. July 25, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  13. ^ "CFord Leads East Past West in All-Star Thriller". WNBA.COM. July 25, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  14. ^ "Cash sets scoring record in All-Star game as West prevails". WNBA.COM. July 25, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  15. ^ "Katie Douglas hits key 3-pointer to lift WNBA East All-Stars". ESPN. July 24, 2011. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
  16. ^ Philippou, Alexa (July 14, 2023). "Sabrina Ionescu scores record 37 points to win WNBA 3-point contest". ESPN. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  17. ^ a b "WNBA Names Skills Challenge and 3-Point Shootout Participants for All-Star Tuesday". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  18. ^ Maloney, Jack. "2024 WNBA All Star Skills Challenge: Schedule, start time, events, participants for 3-Point Contest, format". cbssports.com. CBS Sports. Retrieved July 20, 2024.