Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Three standout players missed out on the WNBA All-Star starting lineup despite strong 2026 campaigns. And they all happen to be on the Atlanta Dream.
- Each snub reflects a mix of positional voting quirks and fan engagement challenges for their team.
- The debate over these omissions highlights how close races can shape All-Star selections and fan perceptions.
The WNBA All-Star starters have been announced, and it's a largely an unsurprising list. The usuals are there — A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Caitlin Clark — and the breakout players who were getting All-Star hype made it as well. (For the latter, I'm talking about Olivia Miles and Jessica Shepard.)
But no vote is perfect, and there will always be players who just missed out on making the starting lineup who, many will argue, should have made the starting group. In this case, the biggest snubs all seem to have something in common...
Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream
Rhyne Howard was robbed due to the WNBA listing her at guard, even though she primarily plays the three in this Atlanta Dream lineup. I mean, seriously — Jordin Canada is the point guard and Allisha Gray is the shooting guard. Howard is, if we go off of what she's done in 2026, a forward and should have had eligibility there, in which case she would have easily earned a starting spot.
The case for Howard is pretty clear: she's been the best player on a title contender. The 2026 season has seen Howard make The Leap, with across-the-board improvements in her scoring stats.
Points Per Game | Field Goal Percentage | 3-Point Field Goal Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
2025 | 17.5 | 37.5 | 32.2 |
2026 | 18.6 | 41.8 | 36.7 |
To be clear, Howard's efficiency is still below league average, but she's made enough improvement that it's no longer a glaring weakness in her game. Considering it was probably the big weakness, Howard finally shooting over 40 percent clears the way for her to claim her rightful spot as a top-10 WNBA player.
It's just a shame that the WNBA forcing us to vote for her as a guard instead of a forward robbed her of a chance to start this year.
Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
I really thought the fourth guard spot after Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Olivia Miles would go to Allisha Gray (or Howard, but we've already covered how my isuse there is what position she was listed at.) Instead, it went to Kelsey Mitchell. And hey, nothing against Mitchell, but I just think Gray deserved the nod more.
The case here is basically the case for Howard: she's the best actual guard on a title contender. Her 3-point shooting fall-off this season has allowed Howard to claim the title of "best Dream player" from her, but Gray is still one of the league's better guards, and her defensive abilities make her extremely valuable to this roster.
Of the three snubs I'm mentioning here, Gray is probably the most forgivable, because I do think Kelsey Mitchell has a strong All-Star case. I mean, she's averaging more points than Gray and is shooting 40 percent from deep. Gray's defensive contributions would make me choose her if I were building a team from scratch, but it's a defensible choice to name Mitchell a starter, even if her real life team is notably worse than Gray's.
Angel Reese, Atlanta Dream
I, uhh, didn't mean for all three snubs to be from the Atlanta Dream, but that's just the way things worked out as I kept working through this. Atlanta always seems to suffer from a fan enthusiasm problem in a way other teams don't, and that's part of the issue:
Breakdown of fan, media and player voting for WNBA All-Star starters: pic.twitter.com/eaUEXFLq6z
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) July 2, 2026
Howard and Gray were ninth and seventh, respectively, in the fan vote, which was kind of the big thing that cost Howard a starting spot. And on the forward side, Reese was sixth in the fan vote while Gabby Williams was fifth, which had an impact here, though less of one than for the other two players. Reese's other issue was that the media was super high on Natasha Howard, which is a fair thing for the media to think, since Howard's been so good this season.
To be fair here, Williams is a deserving All-Star. I'd have Reese over her if I had a ballot — which, hey, WNBA, if you're reading this, I'd love to be a media voter next year! — but it's nice to have at least one player who can play small forward in the All-Star starting lineup.
But yeah, Reese should have been a starter. She's averaging her most points per game while leading the league in rebounds once again, and she's just outside of the top 10 in steals per game. Reese should be a starter.
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