WNBA players, media join fans in All-Star voting

The WNBA announced today for the first time ever, WNBA players and media will join fans in selecting the 2017 All-Star starting lineups. The voting will open Tuesday, June 13, and this season’s All-Star game will take place Saturday, July 22 at Key Arena in Seattle.

The league says in the past starters were selected by fan voting only. The WNBA has extended the voting for this season to include WNBA players and media who covers the league. The fan votes will account for 50 percent, while current players and media will represent 25 percent of the vote each.

League officials say players and media members will be able to complete one full ballot, featuring three frontcourt and two backcourt players from both the Eastern and Western Conference. Players will be able to vote for their teammates and themselves.

They say fans may submit one full ballot each day through either the league website or the WNBA App. Fans will also be able to vote on Twitter and Facebook for up to ten players per day by posting the player’s first and last name or Twitter handle, along with the hashtag #WNBAVOTE.

Fan voting will close on Thursday, July 6. The league says All-Star starters will be announced live on ESPN on Tuesday, July 11 during the noon eastern edition of SportsCenter. They say All-Star reserves, selected by WNBA head coaches, will be announced Thursday, July 18 on ESPN2 during the Chicago Sky vs Seattle Storm game.