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After weeks of anticipation, the day is finally here. The 2018 WNBA All-Star Game is today! Here’s how to watch and what to look for.
2018 WNBA All-Star Game: Team Delle Donne vs. Team Parker
When: Saturday July 28 at 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Target Center | TICKETS
How to watch: ABC broadcast stations (national TV) | WNBA League Pass (worldwide stream)
Injury report: For Team Parker, Nneka Ogwumike (illness) is sitting out. Rebekkah Brunson will take her place.
Starting lineups: For Team Delle Donne, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will be the backcourt while Elena Delle Donne, Breanna Stewart and Sylvia Fowles form the frontcourt. For Team Parker, Chelsea Gray and Angel McCoughtry are in the backcourt, while Candace Parker, Maya Moore and Liz Cambage are in the frontcourt.
Storylines to follow
It is a celebration of the All-Time Greats and rising star talent - This year’s All-Star Game will feature Aces rookie A’ja Wilson and young stars like the Storm’s duo of Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd. But they will also have some of the league’s most experienced stars, like Storm guard Sue Bird and Mercury guard Diana Taurasi. Before people wonder whether older players deserve it, Bird and Taurasi are actually playing more efficiently that they have for most of their careers!
Most player groups are still together - From the Washington Mystics duo of captain Delle Donne and Kristi Toliver and the Sparks’ trio of captain Candace Parker, Chelsea Gray, and Nneka Ogwumike (who will not play), many WNBA fans will get to see their teams’ players stay on the same team.
Sandy Brondello will be coaching against her trio - Though many of the players on the same team are together, including the Mercury’s trio of Taurasi, DeWanna Bonner and Brittney Griner, they are on Team Delle Donne, which is coached by Dan Hughes of the Storm. Brondello, the Mercury’s head coach, will coach Team Parker.
The Lynx and Storm will also have players on both teams - For Seattle, Bird and Stewart are on Team Delle Donne while Jewell Loyd is on Team Parker. And for Minnesota, Augustus and Fowles are on Team Delle Donne while Moore and Rebekkah Brunson are on Team Parker.
The Eastern Conference is looking very empty - Since the WNBA eliminated conference placement as a criterion in playoff seeding, the Western Conference has dominated, with the Sparks and Lynx facing off against each other in both of the last two Finals. With conferences no longer part of consideration for All-Star teams, only six of the 23 All-Stars, including Brunson, are from Eastern Conference teams. The Mystics are the only team with two All-Stars, and the Fever aren’t represented at all — at least in the game itself.
Don’t forget about the Three-Point Contest! - Six WNBA players will compete for the Three-Point Contest title at halftime of this year’s All-Star Game. The contestants are last season’s champion, Allie Quigley (Sky), along with Kayla McBride (Aces)*, Kristi Toliver (Mystics), Kelsey Mitchell (Fever), Jewell Loyd (Storm) and Renee Montgomery (Dream).
*McBuckets: