League rebounding leader Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky and assists leader Alyssa Thomas of the Phoenix Mercury are among the 12 reserves announced Sunday for the WNBA All-Star Game.
The league previously announced the 10 starters for the game on July 19 in Indianapolis. The reserves were selected by the WNBA’s 13 head coaches, who each voted for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference. Coaches were not able to vote for their own players.
All-Star Game captains Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx, who finished first and second in fan voting, will draft their rosters from the remaining eight starters and 12 reserves on Tuesday.
Reese and Thomas are frontcourt reserves along with Washington Mystics rookie Kiki Iriafen and the Golden State Valkyries’ Kayla Thornton.
Thomas, an All-Star for the fourth straight season and sixth time overall, is in her first year with the Mercury. The forward averages 9.4 assists, 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Reese, an All-Star in both of her WNBA seasons, leads the league with 12.6 rebounds per game and also averages 12.4 points. The forward placed fifth in the fan vote among frontcourt players but ranked 12th in both the media and player ballots, according to the league.
The reserve guards are fellow Mystics rookie Sonia Citron as well as the Atlanta Dream’s Rhyne Howard, the Fever’s Kesley Mitchell, the Los Angeles Sparks’ Kelsey Plum, the Lynx’s Courtney Williams, the Las Vegas Aces’ Jackie Young and the Seattle Storm’s Skylar Diggins and Gabby Williams.
Diggins is a seven-time All-Star, while Plum and Young are All-Stars for the fourth consecutive year. Citron, Iriafen, Thornton and Gabby Williams are first-time All-Stars.
Joining guard Clark and forward Collier as starters are frontcourt players Nneka Ogwumike of Seattle, A’ja Wilson of Las Vegas, Aliyah Boston of Indiana, Satou Sabally of Phoenix and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty.
New York’s Sabrina Ionescu is among the guards with Atlanta’s Allisha Gray and the Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 overall draft pick and the only rookie named a starter.
–Field Level Media
