WNBA All-Star Game
Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game | |
---|---|
Frequency | Annual |
Inaugurated | 1999 |
Previous event | 2019 (Las Vegas) |
Next event | 2021 (Las Vegas) |
Participants | Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars |
Organized by | Women's National Basketball Association |
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.
Structure[edit]
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[edit]
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.
In 2021, the game format will change: the 4th period uses the Elam Ending.[citation needed] 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. In the first three periods, whichever team winning the period wins a cash prize donated to charity; if tied, however, the prize carries over to next period. 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[edit]
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) |
- Five WNBA cities were never selected to host the All-Star Game: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles.
Three-Point Contest[edit]
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.
Year | Winner | Team | Final score / max | Other contestants |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Dawn Staley | Houston Comets | 17 / 30 | Katie Douglas, Katie Smith, Diana Taurasi |
2007 | Laurie Koehn | Washington Mystics | 25 / 30 | Diana Taurasi, Penny Taylor, Katie Douglas, Deanna Nolan |
2009 | Becky Hammon | San Antonio Silver Stars | 16 / 30 | Sue Bird, Katie Smith, Shameka Christon, Katie Douglas, Diana Taurasi |
2010 | Katie Douglas | Indiana Fever | 23 / 30 | Lindsay Whalen, Swin Cash, Sue Bird, Monique Currie, Angel McCoughtry |
2017 | Allie Quigley | Chicago Sky | 27 / 34 | Sugar Rodgers, Maya Moore, Jasmine Thomas, Sue Bird |
2018 | Allie Quigley | Chicago Sky | 29 / 34 | Kayla McBride, Kristi Toliver, Jewell Loyd, Renee Montgomery, Kelsey Mitchell |
2019 | Shekinna Stricklen | Connecticut Sun | 23 / 34 | Kayla McBride, Allie Quigley, Kia Nurse, Erica Wheeler, Chelsea Gray |
2021 | Allie Quigley | Chicago Sky | 28 / 40 | Jonquel Jones, Sami Whitcomb, Jewell Loyd |
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to WNBA All-Star Game. |
- ^ "USA BASKETBALL 74, WNBA ALL". ESPN. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "Fowles' third quarter helps Team USA power past WNBA All-Stars". ESPN. 10 July 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ Hays, Graham (9 July 2010). "Win a good start for Team USA". ESPN. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "1999 WNBA All-Star Game: Box Score". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "1999 WNBA All-Star Game Notes". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "2000 WNBA All-Star Game: Box Score". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "2000 WNBA All-Star Game Notes". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ Rubinstein, Barry (16 July 2001). "2001 WNBA All-Star Game Recap". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "2002 WNBA All-Star Game Recap". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "Teasley Keeps MVP Trophy in the Sparks Family". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "West wins highest-scoring All-Star Game by largest margin". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "Douglas Shines Bright as East Notch First Victory". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "CFord Leads East Past West in All-Star Thriller". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "Cash sets scoring record in All-Star game as West prevails". WNBA.COM. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "Katie Douglas hits key 3-pointer to lift WNBA East All-Stars". ESPN. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.