The full player pool for the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago on July 10 has now been revealed. With the starters and captains already decided, the league on Tuesday announced the reserves, which are headlined by reigning Finals MVP Kahleah Copper and No. 1 overall pick Rhyne Howard.
Some other notable names among the reserves are Skylar Diggins-Smith, Courtney Vandersloot and Jewell Loyd. While the starters were decided by voting from fans, media and players, the reserves were selected by the league's assistant coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
Now that all of the players have been announced, the next order of business is the All-Star draft, which will be broadcast live on ESPN on July 2 at 3 p.m. ET. The league has once again returned to the captain's picks format, and this year there will be co-captains: A'ja Wilson and Sue Bird on one side, Breanna Stewart and Sylvia Fowles on the other.
Wilson and Stewart earned the honor after having the most fan votes, while Bird and Fowles were added to the mix in honor of their final seasons and All-Star appearances. In addition, it's worth noting that the league made Brittney Griner, who is still detained in Russia on alleged drug charges, an honorary All-Star.
Ahead of Saturday's draft, when we'll learn the rosters for each team, here's a look at the full player pool for the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game:
Starters
| Player | Team | Position | All-Star selection |
|---|---|---|---|
Sue Bird | Seattle Storm | Backcourt | 13th |
Sabrina Ionescu | New York Liberty | Backcourt | 1st |
Kelsey Plum | Las Vegas Aces | Backcourt | 1st |
Jackie Young | Las Vegas Aces | Backcourt | 1st |
Sylvia Fowles | Minnesota Lynx | Frontcourt | 8th |
Jonquel Jones | Connecticut Sun | Frontcourt | 4th |
Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks | Frontcourt | 7th |
Candace Parker | Chicago Sky | Frontcourt | 7th |
Breanna Stewart | Seattle Storm | Frontcourt | 4th |
A'ja Wilson | Las Vegas Aces | Frontcourt | 4th |
Reserves
| Player | Team | Position | All-Star selection |
|---|---|---|---|
Ariel Atkins | Washington Mystics | Backcourt | 2nd |
Kahleah Copper | Chicago Sky | Backcourt | 2nd |
Skylar Diggins-Smith | Phoenix Mercury | Backcourt | 6th |
Rhyne Howard | Atlanta Dream | Backcourt | 1st |
Jewell Loyd | Seattle Storm | Backcourt | 4th |
Arike Ogunbowale | Dallas Wings | Backcourt | 2nd |
Courtney Vandersloot | Chicago Sky | Backcourt | 4th |
Dearica Hamby | Las Vegas Aces | Frontcourt | 2nd |
Natasha Howard | New York Liberty | Frontcourt | 2nd |
Brionna Jones | Connecticut Sun | Frontcourt | 2nd |
Emma Meesseman | Chicago Sky | Frontcourt | 2nd |
Alyssa Thomas | Connecticut Sun | Frontcourt | 3rd |
A few quick takeaways:
- Eleven of the 12 teams in the league have at least one All-Star. The only one that doesn't is the last-place Indiana Fever, and that arguably shouldn't be the case. Kelsey Mitchell -- fourth in the league in scoring at 19.6 points per game -- is perhaps the biggest snub in the entire league.
- Four players are making their All-Star debuts this year: Sabrina Ionescu, Rhyne Howard, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. It's interesting to note that all of them are guards. The WNBA has historically been dominated by bigs, but the new generation may challenge that notion.
- Aces and Sky lead the way with four All-Stars. Those two teams are first and second in the standings right now, respectively, so it's fitting that they also combine for over one-third of the total All-Stars. The Sky have three starters compared to just one for the Sky, though, so they get bragging rights in that department.
- Diana Taurasi misses the cut. Taurasi has 10 All-Star appearances in her 18-year career, which is tied for second-most all-time. The figure would be even higher, but in six of those years the game was not held, and in 2015 she sat out the season. This will be the first time that she was healthy and not selected.
