It's time for the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game! The best in the WNBA are in Indiana to celebrate their accomplishments.
3 of the biggest WNBA All-Star storylines:
Caitlin Clark is OUT: It was announced Thursday that Caitlin Clark will not participate in the WNBA All-Star Game or the 3-Point Contest as she rests her groin injury. It was seen in a game earlier this week that Clark seemed to re-aggravate her groin strain, and was ruled OUT for the Fever's game the next day. From there, it was pretty obvious Clark's availability for the All-Star Game wasn't guaranteed. She will still be on the sidelines as the Captain of her team, and Coach Sandy Brondello said in All-Star Media availability that she will be giving Clark the coaching reins "as much as she wants them." While disappointing to see Clark out this weekend, obviously, her long-term health is of utmost importance. She has struggled with lower-body injuries this season, and hopefully getting a week's worth of rest from basketball will help it heal.
StudBudz take over: The "StudBudz" as Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman of the Minnesota Lynx call themselves, committed to doing a 72-hour live stream over All-Star Weekend, and it started Thursday morning. The duo has been streaming periodically on Twitch this season, and are celebrating the All-Star Game with this non-stop stream. It's already the most talked about aspect of the weekend, with the stream following Williams and Hiedeman to various events, the Orange Carpet, and even an after party. They are streaming live non-stop all weekend, catching up with players, friends, and taking fans behind the scenes of the event. Since this is a non-WNBA sanctioned stream, they can go anywhere, do anything, and say whatever they want, and so far the results have been hilarious and entertaining.
The WNBA and WNBPA's meeting didn't go to plan: Thursday in Indianapolis, the WNBA and the WNBPA (the Players' Union) had an in-person meeting to discuss ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. The current CBA expires this October, and the two parties are in the process of negotiating a new and historic deal, the first since the WNBA has boomed in recent years. The WNBA players have been vocal about their displeasure at the state of negotiations, and this in-person meeting was meant to assess where both parties stood. Over 40 players were in attendance to represent the union, and while most did not comment on the meeting after the fact, one player said the meeting was "bullshit," while Courtney Williams was heard on the StudBudz livestream saying the meeting was "exhausting." Breanna Stewart told Madeline Kenney of The Post on Friday that the meeting was "a wasted opportunity," and "a lot of fluff."
2 nights of All-Star action to watch:
All-Star Friday Night: Friday, July 18 at 8 p.m. ET
Friday will kick off official All-Star events with the 3-point contest and the Skills Contest. The WNBA announced that Caitlin Clark's teammate Lexie Hull will replace her in the 3-point contest, joining last year's winner Allisha Gray, 2023 winner Sabrina Ionescu, rookie Sonia Citron, and Kelsey Plum. Sabrina Ionescu did not participate in 2024 after setting a 3-point contest record in 2023, for both WNBA and NBA contests. Clark was likely the favorite prior to being ruled out, but the 3-point contest is a different beast than shooting in game. The Skills Contest will see 2024 winner Allisha Gray attempt to repeat her sweep from last season, but she will be up against Skylar Diggins, Erica Wheeler, Natasha Cloud and Courtney Williams.
WNBA All-Star Game: Saturday, July 19, 8:30 p.m. ET
The main event is Saturday night, as Team Collier and Team Clark will face off against each other. With Clark, Satou Sabally and Rhyne Howard all out of the game, Kayla McBride, Brionna Jones and Brittany Sykes have been called up as replacements. A'ja Wilson is questionable for the game as well, but her being a late scratch potentially means they likely would not replace her. Team Clark will be coached by Sandy Brondello of the New York Liberty, while Team Collier will be coached by Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx, after the players traded coaches so that Napheesa Collier could team up with her Lynx coach Reeve.
1 prediction for each WNBA All-Star event:
Skills Challenge winner: While Allisha Gray has a good chance of repeating, Skylar Diggins will likely treat this like it's Game 7 of the WNBA Finals. For that reason, I am going with Diggins and her competitive energy.
3-Point cContest winner: Sabrina Ionescu took a year off in 2024, but I think she will be back with a vengeance this year. She needs to remind everyone who the 3-Point Contest queen is. I think she takes it this year.
All-Star Game winner: I think Team Collier takes the prize this year, but it will be close!
All-Star MVP: I feel like we always get someone unexpected for this award. For fun, I am going to choose Paige Bueckers. I think Bueckers plays best when she is loose, and the All-Star Game is a great opportunity for her to relax and play a fun game.