Who could be a WNBA All-Star starter? Predictions, questions, more for 2025

As the WNBA All-Star Game successful Indianapolis approaches, the teams volition statesman taking shape.

Voting to assistance find the starters closes Friday. The fans' votes number for 50%, the players number for 25% and the sports media number for 25%. The last scores volition beryllium calculated by averaging players' weighted fertile from those groups. Then the apical 4 guards and apical six frontcourt players volition beryllium the starters, with instrumentality voting serving arsenic a tiebreaker if needed.

The 12 reserves are aboriginal chosen by the league's caput coaches, who indispensable ballot for astatine slightest 3 guards and 5 frontcourt players, and past 4 names astatine either position. Coaches cannot ballot for players connected their ain teams.

The 2 players with the astir instrumentality votes volition service arsenic captains and draught players connected "WNBA Countdown" connected July 8 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) earlier the Las Vegas Aces look the New York Liberty.

With the logistics of choosing the All-Star rosters retired of the way, ESPN's Kendra Andrews and Michael Voepel stock their ballots predicting the starters and sermon who missed the cut.

Projected starters

Captains

Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
Tied for archetypal successful assists per crippled (8.9); was an All-Star past twelvemonth arsenic a rookie

Clark missed 5 games with a quad wounded and has been successful a shooting slump from 3-point scope (1 of 23) successful her past 3 games. She missed Thursday's crippled against Los Angeles with a near groin injury, and it's unclear whether she'll articulation the squad erstwhile it travels to Dallas connected Friday. But Clark remains an ultra-elite playmaker adjacent erstwhile her changeable isn't falling. And defenses enactment truthful overmuch accent connected covering her that it opens up opportunities for her teammates. She was the aboriginal person successful instrumentality voting, which is apt to clasp up and enactment her successful a captain's spot. -- Michael Voepel

Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Leads league successful scoring (24.4 PPG); four-time All-Star

The second-leading vote-getter successful the archetypal All-Star instrumentality ballot returns, Collier is simply a shoo-in. Over the past year, she has ascended to the apical of the league, earning the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year award, being named 2024 MVP runner-up and advancing to the WNBA Finals. She is 1 of the faces of the league, which matters erstwhile it comes to being an All-Star starter.

Of course, she has backed up her lawsuit connected the court. Her league-leading 24.4 points per crippled are a vocation high, arsenic are her 52.4% tract extremity shooting, 42.1% shooting from 3, 3.6 assists and 1.5 blocks. -- Kendra Andrews

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Napheesa Collier (32 points) highlights vs. Los Angeles Sparks

Napheesa Collier (32 points) highlights vs. Los Angeles Sparks connected June 14.

Frontcourt

Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever
Leads league starters successful field-goal percent (59.3); two-time All-Star

Boston is top-10 successful the league successful blocks, rebounding and triumph shares. She came successful arsenic an elite defender, and has continued to amended there. But the hallmark of her three-year WNBA vocation is her consistency. She had a career-high 31 points successful the Fever's triumph astatine Seattle connected Tuesday, but struggled successful Thursday's nonaccomplishment to Los Angeles: the Fever arsenic a full struggled with Caitlin Clark sidelined, and Boston was 4-of-13 from the tract for conscionable 12 points. Still, Boston tends to bounce backmost well. -- Voepel

Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm
Ninth connected the all-time scoring list; nine-time All-Star

In her 14th season, Ogwumike shows nary signs of slowing down. Her scoring is up from a twelvemonth agone and she's doing it connected a amended shooting clip. Her 8.2 rebounds per crippled are her 2nd astir implicit the past six years.

Of course, being an All-Star -- and a starter -- is besides astir popularity, longevity and one's interaction connected the game. Ogwuwmike presently sits ninth connected the WNBA's all-time scoring list, ninth successful rebounding and sixth successful steals. The aboriginal Hall-of-Famer checks each of the boxes. -- Andrews

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Los Angeles Sparks vs. Seattle Storm crippled highlights

Watch cardinal moments from the Sparks-Storm contest.

Satou Sabally, Phoenix Mercury
Second successful the league successful usage complaint (31.6); two-time All-Star

In her archetypal play with the Mercury, Sabally has taken her crippled up a notch. She's averaging 19.3 points -- amended than her past All-Star twelvemonth (2023) and successful less minutes.

She has a whopping 8 20-point games this play and she is lone 1 of 3 players putting up astatine slightest 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a bargain per game, alongside three-time MVP A'ja Wilson and 2024 MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier. -- Andrews

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Satou Sabally's floater beats first-quarter buzzer

Satou Sabally beats the first-quarter changeable timepiece buzzer with a floater to widen the Mercury's double-digit lead.

Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
Top 3 successful scoring (21.0 points per game) and triumph shares (3.1); six-time All-Star

In her ninth play successful the league, Stewart is utilized to carrying a large load. That's been adjacent much the lawsuit during halfway Jonquel Jones' lack with an ankle injury. The Liberty person mislaid 3 games, but Stewart continues to bash her champion to support them successful the hunt to repetition arsenic WNBA champions. If her 51.9 tract extremity shooting percent stays astatine that level this season, it volition beryllium her champion since she finished astatine 52.9 successful her archetypal MVP play successful 2018. -- Voepel

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Breanna Stewart drops 23 points successful Liberty's triumph vs. Valkyries

Breanna Stewart tallies a game-high 23 points arsenic the Liberty instrumentality down the Valkyries 81-78.

A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Top 3 successful scoring (21.2 points per game), rebounding (9.6) and blocks (2.6); six-time All-Star

It hasn't been the easiest season for the 7-8 Aces, but Wilson -- who missed 3 games successful concussion protocol -- continues to beryllium MVP-caliber. On Wednesday, she became the quickest successful WNBA history to scope 5,000 vocation points, doing it successful 238 games. Wilson continues to beryllium 1 of the champion scorers and defenders successful the league, and she's besides averaging a vocation precocious successful assists (3.5) this season. [May adhd details from Thursday crippled if notable.] -- Voepel

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A'ja Wilson (22 points) Highlights vs. Connecticut Sun

A'ja Wilson (22 points) Highlights vs. Connecticut Sun, 06/25/2025

Guards

Skylar Diggins, Seattle Storm
Top-10 all-time successful assists (1,602); six-time All-Star

During the inaugural play of Unrivaled, Diggins said she didn't consciousness similar herself past season, the twelvemonth aft she returned to the WNBA from maternity leave. It seems the 3-on-3 league has helped bring her crippled backmost to the level she wanted. Diggins is averaging 18.7 points -- the third-highest scoring mean successful her career. Her 45.5% tract extremity shooting is besides the second-highest people successful her vocation and a monolithic emergence successful ratio from past year.

Diggins has been an All-Star successful six of her 10 seasons successful the WNBA. With her production, determination is nary crushed she won't beryllium 1 again this summer. -- Andrews

Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
First subordinate to triumph the All-Star Skills Challenge and 3-point contention (2024); two-time All-Star

Gray, the highest-ranked Dream subordinate successful the archetypal circular of instrumentality voting, is having the champion play of her nine-year career. She was an All-Star past twelvemonth but her playing level this play should insert her into the starting lineup. She has thrived successful caller Dream manager Karl Smesko's system, operating successful an unthinkable magnitude of abstraction with the eventual greenish airy to sprout the 3. Her 42.9% shooting from region is simply a vocation high, and she is sixth successful the league successful scoring. -- Andrews

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Allisha Gray comes up large from deep

Allisha Gray comes up large from deep

Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
Averaging a career-best 19.7 points; three-time All-Star

Now successful her 5th afloat play successful the WNBA -- she was constricted to conscionable 3 games by an ankle wounded arsenic a rookie successful 2020 -- Ionescu is simply a savvy seasoned who tin instrumentality implicit games erstwhile needed. She had back-to-back 34-point performances earlier this month, and she's adjusted good to a caller backcourt mate successful Natasha Cloud this season. Ionescu tin marque the large plays astatine crunch time, similar going 7-of-7 from the foul enactment successful the past 2 minutes Wednesday for an 81-78 triumph astatine Golden State. -- Voepel

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Sabrina Ionescu makes clutch bargain precocious successful the 4th

Sabrina Ionescu makes a immense antiaircraft play for the Liberty with little than a infinitesimal to play successful the crippled vs. the Valkyries.

The toughest cuts

Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream, guard

Howard is having an All-Star caliber season, though that isn't needfully evident from her stats. Her 35% shooting from the tract and 30.6% shooting from 3 are vocation lows but she's recovered different ways to interaction the game. In Smesko's system, Howard has recovered a mode to thrive arsenic a facilitator, averaging a career-high 4.7 assists. On defense, she's often assigned to the opponent's champion scorer. Howard is averaging 1.6 steals and 0.9 blocks. Her 5.3 rebounds per crippled are besides a vocation high.

Starting successful the All-Star Game takes truthful overmuch into consideration, but Howard missed the cut. There's nary question, though, she should beryllium successful Indianapolis successful July. -- Andrews

Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix Mercury, forward

In her archetypal play successful Phoenix aft 11 years successful Connecticut, Thomas has been conscionable what the Mercury wanted. She's tied for the league pb successful assists (8.9), portion besides averaging 14.4 points and 7.2 rebounds. She missed 5 games with a calf wounded but is backmost strong. She's a immense crushed the new-look Mercury are disconnected to specified a bully start. However, it is hard to ace the apical six astatine the guardant presumption due to the fact that it is truthful stacked. -- Voepel

Who mightiness get picked archetypal by the squad captains successful the All-Star draft

Caitlin Clark: It makes consciousness for the Fever constituent defender to prime her teammate, Aliyah Boston, first. The 2 person forged a precise beardown transportation successful conscionable their 2nd play playing together. Clark does a large occupation of uncovering Boston successful transition, and successful the fractional tribunal arsenic they work each different truthful well. Boston has fantabulous hands and is acceptable to drawback immoderate walk from Clark. -- Voepel

Napheesa Collier: Collier and Breanna Stewart's narration dates to their days astatine UConn. They've played successful the Olympics together. They've competed against each different successful the WNBA Finals. Heck, they launched a concern (Unrivaled) arsenic partners.

The admiration and respect they clasp for 1 different arsenic competitors and friends has ever been a item for women's basketball. It's highly amusive to ticker the 2 compete, but it's besides astir intolerable to walk up the accidental to squad up. With nary different Lynx players locked successful arsenic All-Stars this season, Collier could crook to an aged teammate. -- Andrews