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Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston named WNBA All-Stars – IndyStar
LAS VEGAS — The Indiana Fever continue to make history.
Three Fever players – Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell – were named to the 2024 WNBA All-Star Team on Tuesday night on ESPN before Indiana’s game against Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena.
“It would certainly be cool, but I think at the same time, I don’t think you set out to achieve those things,” Clark said ahead of the announcement. “I think it’s very similar to everything I had in college; you just play the game and have fun, and those types of things kind of take care of themselves as long as you go about your business in the right way every single day.”
It’s the first time the Fever have had three All-Stars since 2007, when Tamika Catchings, Anna DeForge, and Tammy Sutton-Brown made it.
This year’s roster was even more difficult to make — the 2024 All-Star Game, which will be in Phoenix on July 20, is Team USA vs. Team WNBA, serving as an exhibition before the Paris Olympics. The 12-player Team USA roster has already been decided, making them All-Stars no matter the voting from fans, media, and players.
Fever news:‘Create the best team we could.’ USA Basketball explains team selection, Caitlin Clark omission
That left 12 spots for Team WNBA, which was 50% fan voting, 25% media, and 25% players for 10 spots. The top-10 vote-getters, whether they were on Team USA or not, were named All-Stars, and that’s how Clark and Boston made the team. Clark led fan voting (700,735) and Boston was second (618,680).
The next 36 players in voting (who were not already on the Team USA roster) were turned over to league head coaches to fill out the rest of the Team WNBA roster. That’s how Mitchell made the squad.
All three Fever players will be on Team WNBA, making Indiana the only team with three players on the non-Olympic roster. Las Vegas has four players on the Olympic roster, while Phoenix has three. Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve is the coach of Team USA, while the Team WNBA coach has not yet been announced.
Clark was the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft, and it’s the second nod for both Boston and Mitchell. Boston is in her second season, while this is the second straight berth for Mitchell, a seven-year veteran.
Clark is averaging 16.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 6.9 assists, and she is already the WNBA’s all-time rookie leader in games with 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists. She has broken the Fever rookie season assists record, which was 128, in 20 games, and is on pace to break Erica Wheeler’s overall season record of 201.
Clark is one of two rookies on the roster − the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, the June Rookie of the Month, also made it.
Boston, last year’s unanimous Rookie of the Year, is averaging 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds. She has been especially impressive in her last seven games, averaging 17.8 points and 10.6 rebounds.
Mitchell is the Fever’s leading scorer with 16.3 points per game, and she is making 39.7% of her 3-pointers.
Either Clark or Mitchell could also participate in the skills competition on July 19, which includes the 3-point contest. Ahead of the Fever-Aces game, Clark is currently second in season 3-pointers made with 56. The Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale (also a Team WNBA All-Star) leads the league with 59. The skills competition participants have not been announced.
DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut Sun, frontcourt;Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever, frontcourt;Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever, backcourt;Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream, backcourt;Dearica Hamby, Los Angeles Sparks, frontcourt;Brionna Jones, Connecticut Sun, frontcourt;Jonquel Jones, New York Liberty, frontcourt;Kayla McBride, Minnesota Lynx, backcourt;Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever, backcourt;Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings, backcourt;Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm, frontcourt;Angel Reese, Chicago Sky, frontcourt
8:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 20, 2024, in Phoenix
A group of WNBA All-Stars plays the team that will represent the United States in the 2024 Paris Olympics.