Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- WNBA All-Star voting closed on Saturday, June 27, at 11:59 p.m. ET, with fan ballots making up half of the decision.
- Player and media votes will combine with fan votes to determine the starters, while coaches will select the reserves.
- The league’s recent pattern suggests the captains will be revealed on Sunday, June 28, followed by the full list of starters the next day.
On Saturday, July 25, all of the WNBA's best will meet for the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game. Every year, the weekend brings so much entertainment, talent and personality. But this season, the league will celebrate 30 years with the game in Chicago — certainly only bringing more excitement.
The WNBA is full of elite talent and it's only growing each year. The most recent rookie class is a perfect example. So, how is it decided which players will find themselves in the All-Star Game?
How are the All-Stars decided?
The WNBA launched All-Star voting on Thursday, June 11. Each day, fans can submit a ballot consisting of 10 players they think should be named All-Stars, six frontcourt players and four guards.
These fan ballots count for 50-percent of the decision-making process. WNBA players and media members will then get to complete one ballot each; each of these ballot groups will count for 25-percent of the process.
Using the numbers from the three groups, fan votes, player votes and media votes, players will be ranked by position. Their score will then be calculated as the average rank among the three voting groups. The players with the best scores, six frontcourt players and four guards, will be named this year's All-Star starters.
To determine the reserve players, the head coaches around the WNBA will vote for three guards, five backcourt players and then four additional players, regardless of position or conference. To my knowledge, this has not been confirmed yet this season, but in the past, the two players with the most fan votes have been named the team captains. They then participate in drafting their teams.
We've got our first look at who WNBA fans are voting for when the league released the first returns of fan voting on June 17.
First returns of fan voting - Top 10
PLAYER/TEAM | POSITION | TOTAL VOTES |
|---|---|---|
1. A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces | Frontcourt | 308,249 |
2. Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings | Guard | 298,027 |
3. Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever | Frontcourt | 282,186 |
4. Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty | Frontcourt | 255,879 |
5. Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever | Guard | 253,602 |
6. Jessica Shepard, Dallas Wings | Frontcourt | 211,598 |
7. Angel Reese, Atlanta Dream | Frontcourt | 204,643 |
8. Gabby Williams, Golden State Valkyries | Frontcourt | 195,641 |
9. Olivia Miles, Minnesota Lynx | Guard | 179,283 |
10. Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever | Guard | 170,125 |
When will the 2026 WNBA All-Stars be announced?
Fans can submit their All-Star ballots daily until Saturday, June 27, at 11:59 p.m. ET. It's not clear when exactly everything will be announced, but this is the schedule the league went with last season.
2025 ANNOUNCEMENTS | 2025 DATES |
|---|---|
2025 All-Star Voting opened | June 12, 2025 |
2025 All-Star Voting closed | June 28, 2025 |
2025 Captains named | June 29, 2025 |
2025 Starters announced | June 30, 2025 |
2025 Reserves announced | July 6, 2025 |
2025 All-Star team draft | July 8, 2025 |
2025 WNBA All-Star Game | July 19, 2025 |
The numbers this year versus 2025 are already incredibly similar. If the league follows the same schedule, we will likely know who this year's captains are on Sunday, June 28, with the rest of the starters being announced the next day on Monday, June 29.
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