Photo courtesy the WNBA and the Indiana Fever’s official media release. Photo is used for a fair-use editorial purpose, no edits made.
*Neither the WNBA nor the Indiana Fever are endorsing or affiliating the opinions and statements in this article. This article is intended to share a student-voice, not to demean public figures.
Welcome to July, a time where the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is dialed into competition and begins announcing their All-Star team selections. This year, the Indiana Fever are hosting All-Star Weekend at their home arena, Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Currently, the league is approaching the halfway mark of the 44-game season. All teams have at least played 17 games. Throughout these games, WNBA fans have witnessed surprise, let down, excitement and injury. All of this has led up to the 2025 All-Star selections. The first round of selections arrived on June 30, revealing which two players would fill the coveted All-Star captain spots. And to little surprise, both Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier are named the captains. They will draft fellow All-Stars to assemble teams for a 5-on-5 competition during All-Star Weekend.
Caitlin Clark, a Shoo-In For Captain
This year’s captain selections with Clark and Collier is the most predictable thing the league will see this year. This is because, for regular WNBA seasons only the fans vote on the captains. Last season was different, boasting a competition between the All-Stars and the 2024 Team USA Olympians. With only one All-Star team, the league yielded to announce a captain. Nevertheless, the two hottest players in the league—based on fanbase appeal and attraction—are Clark and Collier.
For Clark, despite missing time with a left quadricep strain and groin injury, the WNBA embraces her all the same. And, this is understandable and expected. After all, this is the all-time leading scorer in Division One NCAA basketball. She was also the first WNBA rookie to complete a triple-double performance. Although she has missed time and dealt with field-goal percentage dips this season, she still is an electrifying floor general for the Indiana Fever. She navigates through hardship with impeccable court vision and snazzy passes, aiming to involve her entire team in the ball game. Last year she led the WNBA in assists and ranks second this year—a testament to her unwavering on-court impact.
2025 MVP Favorite Napheesa Collier Deservedly Named Captain
For Collier, the reason why she garners many votes is simple; she is on a rampage. Dating back to last season, she finished second in Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting behind fellow All-Star A’ja Wilson, averaging 20.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists. As for this season, she has taken it to another level with averages of 24.5, 8.1 and 3.5, respectively. With these statistics, it is clear why the Minnesota Lynx are the first seed in the league, standing at 17-2.
Following the captain announcement, on July 1, the league released the list of 10 additional starters for All-Star Weekend. Regarding these selections, the only thing to say is: impeccable. Unlike the captain voting, players and media outlets account for 50% of the vote while the other half is determined by fan voting. In the All-Star format, the starter draft pool consists of four guards and six forwards, including the captains. So, to start with the guards besides Captain Clark, these are exactly the players I predicted for the starting lineup.
Thoughts On All-Star Starters: Guards
Besides captain Clark, the starting guards are: New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, the Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray and Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers.
Beginning with Sabrina Ionescu, she primarily plays the shooting guard position for the Liberty and she does it handily. While she is not producing the best numbers of her career in terms of rebounds, assists or field goal efficiency, she is averaging a career-high in both points, 18.7, and free-throw percentage, at 93.3%. The Liberty have dealt with hardship this year, whether it be from injury or absence. Despite this, Ionescu’s presence is keeping them among the contenders.
The same is true for guard Allisha Gray. Gray, a nine-year veteran, is the head of the beast that is the Atlanta Dream. This season, Gray is an early front-runner for some MVP votes, doing so with averages of 19.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.1 assist, all career-highs. Gray seems to be thriving in new head coach Karl Smesko’s offense. Smesko’s system has players like Gray focus on shooting from the three-point line often and efficiently. Her 237 attempts from this range on 45.6% shooting only back this up.
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers is on a similar journey as captain Caitlin Clark—who was also a rookie All-Star starter. Bueckers, this year’s first overall draft pick is exactly what the Wings needed after parting ways with All-WNBA and All-Star talent, Satou Sabally. Bueckers is exhilarating to watch thus far in her career. She averages 18.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and is tied third in the league in steals at 1.8. With injured star teammates like DiJonai Carrington and Arike Ogunbowale, Bueckers is revitalizing the team and is behind the Wings’ rapid increase in wins.
Three Former MVPs as Starting Forwards
Excluding captain Napheesa Collier, there are five other forwards which Collier and Clark can draft when building their All-Star lineups. These forwards—all personal favorites—are Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, New York’s Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm’s Nneka Ogwumike, Indiana’s Aliyah Boston and the Phoenix Mercury’s Satou Sabally.
Starting off, the most notable player in the draft pool is three time and reigning MVP, A’ja Wilson. This is a straightforward pick for an All-Star starter as Wilson is second in both points and rebounds with marks of 22.1 and 9.4, respectively. Likewise, she is relentless on the defensive end, tied for leading the league in blocks at 2.5 and tied third in steals at 1.8. It seems like nothing offensive happens when Wilson is protecting the paint, but when she is attacking the basket, it is nothing but offense. Unless she is injured, there is no reason why Wilson will not make the starting All-Star roster for the foreseeable future.
Joining Wilson in the draft pool is fellow MVP winner Breanna Stewart. Although she has won two MVPs and three championships, based on her averages and overall impact on her team’s success, it does not seem like it. This is certainly no attack on Stewart, but this is not her season—at least this far. Posting 19.6% from beyond the three point line as a player who performed at 35.5% two seasons ago is gobsmacking. Not only this, but she is not rebounding the way she used to, averaging 6.4 rebounds a game—two less than last season. Nonetheless, Stewart shows up and out for her team when they need it, which makes her an All-Star, not a starter, though.
A player deserving of her starting spot is Nneka Ogwumike, a 14-year veteran and 2016 champion and MVP. This season, Ogwumike stepped into rare air, becoming the first player to start in 10 All-Star games. Surprisingly, she overtakes legends Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird in this statistic—both women have nine starts. Aside from All-Star semantics, Ogwumike is a statistical constant, putting up 17.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals this season. Aside from stat lines, she is on track to record a career-high number of three-pointers this year. She is only 18 away from a career-best of 74. And, she is doing at a high percentage, shooting 37.5%. All of this is to say, she is pertinent to Seattle’s early-on success.
The Youths of the Starting Forwards
Another player who leads a WNBA category is forward Aliyah Boston. The third year player leads the league in field goal percentage at 59.7%. As well as this, Boston ranks third in rebounds at 8.3 per game. Boston is known for her immaculate pick-and-roll game with teammate Caitlin Clark. When Boston gets hot, she becomes automatic in the paint. Outside the paint Boston has a sweet jumper, primarily at the elbow of the paint or high mid-range—this shot is consistent on her highlight reels. Aside from her paint prowess, Boston is averaging a career-high 16.6 points per game, keeping the Fever afloat while Clark is out on injury.
On the topic of injury, forward Satou Sabally returns to the All-Star starters pool—her last appearance was in 2023. She missed last year’s All-Star Weekend representing her home nation, Germany, in the Summer Olympics. Additionally, Sabally spent large parts of last season rehabbing an elbow injury, leaving her with no time to make a case to be an All-Star anyways.
However, it is different this year. The Unicorn—her media given nickname—is on a tear with her new Phoenix team. It seems she is returning to her 2023 form, a year where she was named a member of the All-WNBA team. Her stats—while up and down in various categories—are what the Mercury need while entering a new era of basketball. In a recent game, she knocked down seven three-pointers down in a game, helping Phoenix set a franchise record with 17 single-game threes. Leading the Mercury in points at 19.1, Sabally and her squad are second in the standings at 12-6.
The Reserves: The Good Guards
Five days after the league announced this year’s starters, they unveiled the list of 12 reserve players. This year, the reserves are seven guards and five forwards, and they are quality choices—mostly. For the All-Star format, the league’s coaches vote on the 12 reserves.
Looking at the guards on the roster, there is; Los Angeles Sparks’ Kelsey Plum, Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell, Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard, Seattle’s Skylar Diggins and Las Vegas’ Jackie Young. Five of these seven guards are crucial to the leadership and success of their teams. Their abilities to drive to the basket and stretch the floor beyond the three-point line is necessary in modern basketball. Beyond offense, these guards handle their defensive assignments on a game-to-game basis, to an extent. Additionally, all five guards either lead or rank second in points on their teams.
A Reserve and Not a Starter?
As for forwards, although there are only five of them in the reserves, they are poorer selections than the guards. But, that is not to say that some players do not deserve to be All-Stars, because some players deserved to be starters opposed to just reserves. A player like this is Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas. The do-it-all forward is known for her triple-doubles—she has 15 total in her career, nine more than the next closest—and being a team’s vessel. While she has yet to notch a triple-double this year, she is averaging 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and a league-leading 9.4 assists. A player of this caliber should be a starter, it is good she made the All-Star team regardless.
Forward Reserves: Looking at the Positive
Although Thomas has plenty of experience as an All-Star, this year’s team boasts a few forwards who are new to the scene. Enter Golden State’s Kayla Thornton and Seattle’s Gabby Williams. Both first-timers are spark plugs for their team’s starting lineup, adding passion and three-level scoring into the game. Besides this being their first All-Star year, one thing both forwards have always done is defense. This season, Williams leads the league in steals at 2.6 per game and Thornton is ranked sixth with 1.6 a game.
While many may disagree, it is great to see Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese back on the roster. She made the roster last year as a rookie and has improved her game ever since. Though she has progressed, many fans once criticized her for an inability to stretch the floor, make free throws and finish layups. As well as this, fans ridicule her for only rebounding her own missed shots, fans dubbing them me-bounds. However, this season she has put that behind her. Reese is averaging 12.6 points, a league-leading 12.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists—a two assist improvement from last season. Aside from improving her court vision, Reese is shooting higher percentages from the free throw line and beyond the arc at 79.9% and 26.7%, respectively. Besides offense, she also ranks sixth—in a six-way tie—in steals at 1.6 a game.
So, Who Should Not Have Made It? The Outcast Guards and Forward
After a meticulous debate on who deserves the accolade, only three players spark a debate: Washington Mystics’ Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen and Minnesota’s Courtney Williams. Now, in no way should this seem like demeaning players. But, they do not stack up against others who are more qualified and decorated.
Starting with Washington’s rookie tandem, they play well. However, they have not yet reached a definitive All-Star level. Citron and Iriafen are vital pieces to the success of the 2025 Mystics. The same goes for Williams, she is her team’s floor general, and comes when they need her, but other players are more qualified for the spot.
Put Them On The Team
The league’s coaches should have given more consideration to a guard like Britney Sykes. As well as her, Sparks’ forwards Azura Stevens and Dearica Hamby deserve attention for these spots. After all, they are their team’s unsung heroes.
Starting with Sykes, she is leading the Mystics in points and assists at 17.2 and 4.6 per game. Not to mention, she is the bonafide leader of this youthful squad. Sykes’ leadership is a testament to these rookies’ success—an argument both probable and necessary. Failing to vote the most impactful and influential player on a team into the All-Star game seems careless and inept.
As for the Sparks teammates in Stevens and Hamby, they are the one thing their team can count on. Whether or not teammate Kelsey Plum is playing efficiently or sub-par, these two always show up for their team. Stevens and Hamby are sticklers on defense—Stevens averages 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks a game while Hamby gets 1.9 steals a night—as well as being consistent on offense. They score 14.8 points and 17 points per game, respectively. And to add, they can stretch the floor—a desirable quality in today’s basketball culture.
A Reflection
Ultimately, this 2025 WNBA All-Star roster is star-studded and largely well-earned. While a few snubs sting, a Weekend of high-level basketball will entertain just the same. With a wide variety of talent and skill sets, this year’s All-Star competition is sure to draw national attention.
*All statistics used in this sports-opinion article are from WNBA.com and Yahoosports.com.
