It's Time for WNBA All-Star Weekend—Here's Everything You Need to Know
Right now, the biggest names in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) are together in one place: Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the Indiana Fever. It's All-Star weekend, an annual event that sees the league's stars from all 13 teams battle it out for a handful of trophies and awards associated with the skills contest, three-point contest, and, of course, All-Star Game (plus All-Star MVP!). The rosters were meticulously chosen based on a mixture of fan, coach, and media voting and drafted by the two players with the highest fan votes—Caitlin Clark from the Fever in first and Napheesa Collier from the Minnesota Lynx in second. On July 8, the team captains chose their desired starters and bench players, and now, they've made their way to the Hoosier state to see who played the role of WNBA general manager better.
Before all the action begins, we're giving you the lay of the land—the perfect guide to navigating All-Star weekend, whether you're a longtime fan and just want a quick review or brand-new to the game and need a full-blown explainer. We'll touch on this year's All-Star starters, the much-anticipated orange carpet, and the biggest storylines, from this weekend's snubs to its rookie All-Stars, and reminisce about All-Star weekends from the W's storied past. Everything you need to know is just a scroll away.
First things first, let's discuss this weekend's schedule. There's a lot going on, from off-schedule brand events to Fever Fest, a music festival put on by Pacers Sports & Entertainment and Hartbeat, Kevin Hart's entertainment group. If you're on the ground in Indianapolis, we highly recommend trying to go to as much as you can. Though, the actual on-court action is always priority number one, which means settling into your seat on Friday at 8 p.m. ET for the WNBA Starry 3-Point Contest and Kia WNBA Skills Challenge (both of which were won by Allisha Gray last year) and on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET for the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game.
Fever Fest will do a great job of filling in the gaps. It's being held at Everwise Amphitheater on Saturday, starting with a performance by 803Fresh, who most recently performed at Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Afterward, the main show will kick off with comedy sets by Cedric the Entertainer, Leslie Jones, and Aida Rodriguez and musical performances by G-Eazy, Bia, and The Kid Laroi, the event's headliner. Following the festival, ticketholders are invited to stay and watch the All-Star Game from the venue, starting at 8:30 p.m.
But that's not all. Brands such as Coach, Nike, Kallmeyer, and Famous Footwear will also be putting on events, keeping All-Star attendees more than entertained during breaks from play. Plus, there's the orange carpet, our personal favorite highlight of every All-Star weekend, which will take place on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Click here for Fever Fest tickets.
Long before anyone outside of the Fever organization landed in Indianapolis, the starters for this year's All-Star Game were released. On June 29, the WNBA announced that Clark and Collier received the most fan votes and would therefore serve as the two All-Star team captains. A day later, the league shared the remaining eight starters, including forward Nneka Ogwumike of the Seattle Storm, forward Breanna Stewart from the New York Liberty, and center A'ja Wilson from the Las Vegas Aces. Rookie Paige Bueckers from the Dallas Wings, Gray from the Atlanta Dream, and Sabrina Ionescu from the Liberty join Clark in the guard position. Aliyah Boston from the Fever and Satou Sabally from the Phoenix Mercury round out the group, both from the frontcourt. (Ahead of the weekend, Sabally announced on Instagram Stories that she wouldn't be competing due to an ankle injury.) The starters were determined by a combination of voting results, with fan votes accounting for 50% of the vote and current WNBA player and media votes each accounting for 25%.
