WNBA All-Star Game

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). Since 2004, the game is not held in years when the Summer Olympics take place.

Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game
FrequencyAnnual
Inaugurated1999
Previous event2019 (Las Vegas)
Next event2022 (TBD)
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

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

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. As of May 4, 2020, the league has not announced a revised schedule, and it is unknown whether a 2020 All-Star Game might or might not be played after all.

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.

Come 2022, the game format may change: the 4th period could use the Elam Ending. The 4th period would have no game clock, but the shot clock would remain. Like their NBA counterpart, the target score is 24 points more than the team leading or tie score through three periods. Whoever gets there will win it; the winning shot is either a walk-off field goal, three-pointer or free throw. With the Elam Ending, no overtime would be played.

All-Star Game results
YearResultHost arenaHost cityGame 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 East 112, West 128 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 West 79 East 119 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 West 84, East 79 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

See also

Notes
  1. "USA BASKETBALL 74, WNBA ALL". ESPN. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  2. "Fowles' third quarter helps Team USA power past WNBA All-Stars". ESPN. 10 July 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  3. Hays, Graham (9 July 2010). "Win a good start for Team USA". ESPN. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  4. "1999 WNBA All-Star Game: Box Score". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  5. "1999 WNBA All-Star Game Notes". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  6. "2000 WNBA All-Star Game: Box Score". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  7. "2000 WNBA All-Star Game Notes". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  8. Rubinstein, Barry (16 July 2001). "2001 WNBA All-Star Game Recap". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  9. "2002 WNBA All-Star Game Recap". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  10. "Teasley Keeps MVP Trophy in the Sparks Family". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  11. "West wins highest-scoring All-Star Game by largest margin". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  12. "Douglas Shines Bright as East Notch First Victory". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  13. "CFord Leads East Past West in All-Star Thriller". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  14. "Cash sets scoring record in All-Star game as West prevails". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  15. "Katie Douglas hits key 3-pointer to lift WNBA East All-Stars". ESPN. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
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