WNBA All-Star Game
Annual exhibition basketball game
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The Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game, commonly referred to as the WNBA All-Star Game, is the annual all-star game hosted each July by the Women's National Basketball Association, showcasing the league's top players. It is the feature event of the WNBA All-Star Weekend, a three-day event which goes from Friday to Sunday in a selected WNBA city. The WNBA All-Star Game was first played at Madison Square Garden on July 14, 1999.
| WNBA All-Star Game | |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Annual |
| Inaugurated | 1999 |
| Most recent | 2025 (Indianapolis) |
| Previous event | 2024 (Phoenix) |
| Next event | 2026 (Chicago) |
| Participants | Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars |
| Organized by | Women's National Basketball Association |
Structure
From 1999 to 2017, the WNBA All-Star Game featured star players from the Western Conference competing against star players from the Eastern Conference. Starters were selected by fan voting through internet ballots, while the remaining players were chosen by league personnel, including head coaches and media members. At the end of the game, the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) was named by a panel of media representatives.
In 2018, the WNBA introduced a new format for the All-Star Game, eliminating the traditional Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference structure in favor of a player draft.[1] In this new format, two captains – determined by the highest number of fan votes – draft their teams from a pool of players voted as All-Stars, regardless of conference affiliation. Voting for All-Star starters includes inputs from fans, WNBA players, and sports media members, with a weighted system (fans 50%, players and media 25% each). Reserves are selected by the league's head coaches.[2]
The All-Star Weekend also features a Three-Point Contest and a Skills Challenge. The Three-Point Contest consists of multiple round in which players compete to make the most three-point shots from various spots around the arc within a set time limit.[3][4] The Skills Challenge is a obstacle course designed to test players' abilities in key aspects of the game, such as dribbling, passing, and shooting. The player who completes the course in the fastest time in the final round is declared the winner.[5][6] Both competitions usually feature five players, selected based on their performance during the regular season.[7]
History
The inaugural WNBA All Star Game was played in 1999 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, in front of a sold-out crowd. Whitney Houston performed the national anthem. The West Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 79–61 and Lisa Leslie was named the first-ever All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) after recording 13 points and five rebounds for the West.[8][9]
In 2004, The Game at Radio City was held in place of a traditional All-Star Game 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.[10][11] The 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 competing in the Olympic Games.
From 2008 through 2016, no All-Star Game was held during Summer Olympic years, continuing the tradition of taking a month-long mid-season break. In 2010, an exhibition game, Stars at the Sun, was played at Mohegan Sun Arena, where Team USA defeated a WNBA All-Star team 99–72.[12]
Although the 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no All-Star Game was played in that season. The 2021 season featured the first All-Star Game in an Olympic year since 2000, with a WNBA All-Star team facing the USA national team. The 2024 game followed the same format and was also considered an official All-Star Game.
All-Star Game results
| Eastern Conference (4 wins) | Western Conference (10 wins) |
|---|---|
| Year | Result | Host arena | Host city | Game MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | West 79, East 61[13][14] | Madison Square Garden | New York, New York | Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks |
| 2000 | West 73, East 61[15][16] | America West Arena | Phoenix, Arizona | Tina Thompson, Houston Comets |
| 2001 | West 80, East 72[17] | TD Waterhouse Centre | Orlando, Florida | Lisa Leslie (2), Los Angeles Sparks (2) |
| 2002 | West 81, East 76[18] | MCI Center | Washington, D.C. | Lisa Leslie (3), Los Angeles Sparks (3) |
| 2003 | West 84, East 75[19] | 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[20] | Mohegan Sun Arena | Uncasville, Connecticut | Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets (2) |
| 2006 | East 98, West 82[21] | Madison Square Garden (3) | New York, New York (3) | Katie Douglas, Connecticut Sun |
| 2007 | East 103, West 99[22] | Verizon Center | Washington, D.C. (2) | Cheryl Ford, Detroit Shock |
| 2008 | No game due to the 2008 Summer Olympics | |||
| 2009 | West 130, East 118[23] | Mohegan Sun Arena (2) | Uncasville, Connecticut (2) | Swin Cash, Seattle Storm |
| 2010 | Stars at the Sun | |||
| 2011 | East 118, West 113[24] | 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 | Team Collier 151, Team Clark 131 | Gainbridge Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, Indiana | Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx (4) |
| 2026 | Wintrust Arena | Chicago, Illinois (2) | ||
- Six WNBA cities haven't been selected to host the All-Star Game yet: Atlanta; Dallas; Los Angeles; Portland, OR; San Francisco & Toronto, ON.
Three-Point Contest
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 |
- 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.[25]
Three Point Contest champions by franchise
| No. | Franchise | Last win |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Chicago Sky | 2022 |
| 2 | New York Liberty | 2025 |
| 1 | Atlanta Dream | 2024 |
| 1 | Connecticut Sun | 2019 |
| 1 | Indiana Fever | 2010 |
| 1 | San Antonio Silver Stars | 2009 |
| 1 | Washington Mystics | 2007 |
| 1 | Houston Comets | 2006 |
Skills Challenge
The WNBA introduced the Dribble, Dish & Swish Challenge starting during the 2003 WNBA All-Star Game.[26] 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."[27]
| ^ | 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 |
