Around the W: All-Star Weekend Recap

A summary and commentary of the WNBA All-Star Weekend event.

WNBA All-Star Weekend took place in Phoenix, Arizona over these past couple of days as Olympians and All-Stars gathered together in the desert for a fun and competitive weekend. I wrote about what happened and the highlights below.

Allisha Gray Makes History

Before the All-Star game on Saturday, the WNBA started off with All-Star Friday Night which involved the Skills Challenge, the 3 x 3 game, and the always fun 3-Point contest.

Allisha Gray made history by becoming the first WNBA Player to win multiple competitions in the same All-Star weekend. First, she competed in the Skills Challenge, which is essentially an obstacle course that features bounce passes, chest passes, three-point shooting, free throw shooting, and a corner three shooting over a couple of swinging red light sabers; as they dribbled through more obstacles to one final chest pass and ended with a layup.

Gray defeated Sophie Cunningham in the Finals. Gray also recorded the best time score during the first round before qualifying for the finals.

Before the Three-Point Contest, we got to watch Team USA’s 3 x 3 team face some of the college players that are part of the Team USA Under 23 - 3 x 3 group. For a good portion of the game, it was the college players who were beating the Team USA Olympians. Cotie McMahon, the talented player out of Ohio State, made some really nice plays. If you’ve followed my coverage from the 2023 March Madness tournament that was held in Seattle, I am very high on McMahon and her WNBA potential. She’ll be entering her Junior season and if she stays all four years in college, she would enter the draft in 2026; where the Storm currently own two first-round picks (theirs and Los Angeles’s). That’s something to keep in mind for down the road.

Focusing back on that 3 x 3 game, the Atlanta Dream’s Rhyne Howard took over the game late to lead the Team USA Olympians over the college U23 group.

Once this game was over, we moved on to the Three-Point Contest. Allisha Gray and Jonquel Jones reached the final round outshooting Kayla McBride, Stefanie Dobson, and Marina Mabrey. Jonquel scored the highest mark in the first round with 25 points. Gray was second scoring 23 points as both advanced to the finals. Gray scored 22 points in the Championship round. Jones was right on her tail and had a chance to win the competition with a score of 21 points and one last money ball (worth two points) left to shoot. Jones missed her final shot and with that, Allisha Gray became the first player ever to win both the WNBA Skills Challenge and 3-PT Competition at WNBA All-Star Weekend in the same year.

Due to work by Nneka Ogwumike, Aflac (the insurance company) agreed to pay the winner of each of these contests an additional $55,000. That means Gray earned an extra $110,000 during her trip to Phoenix for All-Star Weekend. That’s not too shabby as that’s more than half her yearly salary for this season.

All-Star Game Saturday

There were a few different stories that took place during the All-Star game. First, it was a highly competitive game between the two squads where the two teams actually played defense. I later saw a lot of people talking on social media about how surprisingly competitive the game was for being an All-Star game and how they wish that the NBA could find a way to make their NBA All-Star game as fun, exciting, and competitive.

This is just a fun storyline because we have all the players that are representing Team USA and the WNBA in the Olympics against several of their teammates, coworkers, and other players who maybe felt they should have made the Olympic team but for one reason or another weren’t selected.

Overall, the game was highly competitive through the entire first half as Team USA led during most of the first 20 minutes of the game. Team USA led 54-52 over Team WNBA at the midway point. However, Arike Ogunbowale and Team WNBA caught fire in the third quarter outscoring Team USA 36-25. Arike scored 21 points in the third period alone. She finished with a game-high 34 points, scoring all of those points over the game’s final 20 minutes. Ogunbowale led Team WNBA to another victory over Team USA by a final score of 117-109. Just as she did back in 2021 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics that were held three years ago. Ogunbowale won the MVP back in 2021 and again this year.

Allisha Gray, after having an incredible Friday night, had another strong performance in the All-Star game for Team WNBA. She finished with 16 points off the bench and was the team’s second-leading scorer behind Ogunbowale.

The Seattle Storm’s Nneka Ogwumike also had a strong game. She finished as the team’s third-best scorer with 14 points on 7-9 FG shooting. Nneka scored eight of her points in the first period to help keep Team WNBA close before Arike was able to take over the game in the second half.

Unfortunately, after winning the MVP award last season, Jewell Loyd was one of the few players to be held scoreless in the game. She finished 0-3 FG in 13 minutes of action. Napheesa Collier, who was limited to just three minutes, and Dearica Hamby (four minutes) were the only other players not to score a single point in the All-Star game.

It was interesting to see Collier play in this game as she didn’t play at all over the Minnesota Lynx’s final five games in July after injuring her foot. It’s been unclear if she is going to be healthy enough to play in the Paris Olympics. But this was at least a small sign in the right direction that Napheesa is getting healthier.

If it wasn’t for Arike’s crazy second-half performance, a lot more people would be talking about Breanna Stewart’s excellent game. Stewart finished with 31 points on 10 rebounds to lead Team USA in both categories.

A’ja Wilson, the MVP front-runner, also played very well. She finished with 22 points and six rebounds. If Team USA is going to win their 8th Gold Medal in a row, they will have to rely on Stewart and Wilson to be their anchors.

Diana Taurasi, going for her record-setting Gold Medal, still proved that she can get it done. She finished with 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists in front of her home crowd X-Factor in Phoenix.

Lastly, the two rookies that are taking the WNBA by storm, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese both did a great job of getting the crowd excited. Clark struggled with her shot going 0-7 FG from beyond the arc and totaling just four points. Caitlin did finish with a game-high 10 assists. She said during a mid-game TV interview that Sue Bird was doing a lot of talking (trash) to her, so she was going to try and break Bird’s record. She came close but the record still belongs to Sue for another season. Bird holds the All-Star game record with 11 assists.

Meanwhile, Angel Reese became I believe just the second rookie since Yolanda Griffith, to register a double-double at an All-Star game. Reese demonstrated her patented hustle and energy collecting a game-high 11 rebounds and finished with 12 points. After the game, she talked about it being such a wonderful experience for her and that she really hopes to represent Team USA one day at the Olympics.

Commissioner Engelbert’s Press Conference

As has been a tradition in the NBA, where the Commissioner will give a “State of the Union”-type address on the league, the WNBA Commissioner, Cathy Engelbert has been doing the same. She spent 30 minutes speaking with the media on the league ahead of Saturday’s All-Star game.

She opened up her press conference discussing that the WNBA has been hitting record highs in attendance, viewership numbers, and sales. Some of her opening statement is listed below.

“So as potential ownership groups clamor for a piece of the W, we expect to have more news on the front in the coming months on expansion, and the goal remains what I said at the Draft, to have 16 teams by no later than 2028.

As we bring on new fans and new partners, I met with a lot of brands while I've been here the last few days and we continue to look at a transformed economic model creating essentially a new paradigm for women's sports. So looking ahead, we're really excited for the players representing the U.S. Take home the gold in Paris and for the season to resume.

We will also be cheering on, though. We have many other players representing their National Teams in the Olympics. So when we come back in mid-August, I anticipate a very fast and furious run to the playoffs and, as always, a really hyper-competitive, entertaining postseason.

I know there's a lot of interest in our media rights deals. It's still an ongoing process, so I can't get into any specifics on those deals today, but once they are finalized, I'll be happy to discuss them in more detail. That said, I haven't been shy in saying we've been preparing for this moment for many years saying how important media deals are to the growth and the future of this league, and these deals will be historic and a significant step forward.” Engelbert said.

Earlier this past week, The Athletic reported a bombshell that the WNBA is projected to make $2.2 Billion over the next 11 years on their Media Rights deal. That would be roughly $200 Million for the league per year. To put that in perspective, a few years ago, the WNBA was only getting about $12 Million per season and more recently around $50-60 Million per year.

The article linked above is behind a paywall but does provide more insight into the potential media deal for those who are interested.

If the reports are accurate, this should lead to increased player pay and a massive increase in the salary cap in future upcoming seasons. Currently, the WNBAPA (Player’s Association) has an opt-out clause in the current CBA that was finalized in 2020 with an opt-out after the 2025 season. It was originally projected to last until the end of the 2027 season. Still, with this new money coming into the league, it is guaranteed that the Player’s Association will want to renegotiate higher wages after the 2025 season.

Beyond that, the Commissioner did mention that they are looking at expanding the regular season even further. The current CBA allows them to go up to 44 games per season and with a 13th team being added next year, it is more likely that will want to add those additional games. She also hinted that they might be looking into changes to the playoff format. That could mean we get to see WNBA Finals change from a 5-game series to a 7-game series. Something we’ve never had before in the W.

Lastly, of the news items that stood out to me, Cathy Engelbert spoke a little bit more about the Golden State Valkryies and the upcoming expansion draft process without getting into full specific details.

“The Golden State Valkyries announced their brand a couple of months ago. Love it. They are doing great with it, and I think they've talked about their season ticketholder deposit base.

They've obviously hired people. As I always say, to grow a business, you have to hire great human capital, great people. So they've hired a GM. They've hired a team president and others. They're filling out their team.

Then later this year we'll have an expansion draft where they'll draft players and then they'll participate in the college draft next year. I mean, they're gearing up from a business perspective and a basketball perspective.

I'll let them speak for exactly everything they're doing behind the scenes, but I know some of their leadership is here at All-Star. I know they're really excited to join this league, as you say, at a high-momentum time. I just think having a team in the Bay Area with that fan base, I think it's going to be great for the league.” Engelbert stated.

She was asked a follow-up question regarding the expansion draft and she had this to say.

“On the Expansion Draft, we have been talking with our teams, GM, head coaches, and our owners about the expansion draft. It will most likely be in December of this year because we need to do it and then we have the Draft Lottery and then the NCAA season concludes and then we have our draft.

Yeah, our teams are aware. We'll make final decisions and make those announcements in the coming months, but we're focused right now on this All-Star Game, the season, and the playoffs, but we'll certainly be out with some information related to how that will work.” Engelbert added.

It is an exciting time as a WNBA fan between the growth and popularity, the increased number of superstars entering and developing in this league, and the injection of money and investment to build something even bigger and greater than ever before.

By 2026, the WNBA should have 14 WNBA teams with the potential to have 16 teams across North America no later than 2028. Plus, we’ll see the next influx of talent come in including Paige Buckers, JuJu Watkins, Cotie McMahon, and more.

But first, it’s time for Team USA to win that 8th Gold Medal!

Notes:
Photo Credits to WNBA Photography
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