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The reserves for the 2013 WNBA All-Star game on Saturday (3:30 p.m. EDT on ABC) has been announced with three frontcourt players and three guards being added to the roster.
And in a year where injuries have been an all-too-regular occurrence, the WNBA's coaches ultimately selected the most deserving performers even if you disagree with some of them.
| East Position | Player | Team | West Position | Player | Team |
| G | Alison Hightower | Connecticut Sun | G | Danielle Robinson | San Antonio Silver Stars |
| G | Ivory Latta | Washington Mystics | G | Kristi Toliver | Los Angeles Sparks |
| G | Shavonte Zellous | Indiana Fever | G | Lindsay Whalen | Minnesota Lynx |
| F | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | F | Rebekkah Brunson | Minnesota Lynx |
| F | Sylvia Fowles | Chicago Sky | F | Glory Johnson | Tulsa Shock |
| F | Crystal Langhorne | Washington Mystics | F | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
2013 WNBA All-Star reserves by conference and ordered alphabetically by position.
Coaching the teams will be the leaders of last year's WNBA Finals: Indiana Fever coach Lin Dunn for the Eastern Conference and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve for the Western Conference.
According to the WNBA release, the coaches were issued the following guidelines for selecting reserves:
- Coaches selected reserves by voting for six players within their own conference, including two guards, three frontcourt players, and one player regardless of position.
- Coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team.
- Any forthcoming injury replacements will be named by WNBA President Laurel J. Richie on July 24.
Comparing these selections to the statistical overview of potential reserves posted here last week, there are two players who stand out for not being discussed previously:
- Rebekkah Brunson: The reasoning for adding Brunson to the roster should probably be clear: she's still one of the best rebounders in the league this season. Of the league's regular starting frontcourt players, Brunson has the fifth-best offensive rebounding percentage and third-best in the Western Conference. Her scoring efficiency (50.7% true shooting percentage) is below career average, which might lend credence to an argument that DeWanna Bonner or Candice Dupree are equally or more deserving, but Brunson's elite rebounding rate will always justify an All-Star selection.
- Shavonte Zellous: We discussed Shavonte Zellous in the comments of the last post and Swish Appeal user 77DJK pretty much nailed the argument for her making the team: "She has been a fairly efficient and productive shooter, including her 3 Pt. FG%. While Phillips and Doulgas have had their injuries to this day, Zellous must be consistenly attracting extra defensive pressure while Doulgas is not present on the court as the 1st or 2nd main offensive threat and Zellous has arguably still been able to pick up the slack, mainly for Douglas. There was a first half performance against the Sky early in the season when both Catchings and Douglas were on the bench in street clothes and Zellous was a key to Indiana's success at pulverizing the Sky's efforts on defense."
There are other players who could be considered snubs and I'll go over those later with the numbers, but for now what do you think of the 2013 WNBA All-Star selections? Are there any selections that surprised you or any major snubs?
Vote in the poll and feel free to leave your thoughts and/or links in the comments below. For more on the All-Star Game, visit our 2013 WNBA All-Star section.