NEW YORK – Brittney Griner will start in the WNBA All-Star Game a year after her start honorary vote from the League while imprisoned in Russia.
The Phoenix Mercury center was chosen by fans, media and players Sunday for their ninth All-Star game. Last season, all players wore Griner #42 jerseys in the second half of the game, which was played in Chicago.
A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart were the top voters among fans and will be the captains of both teams when the game is played in Las Vegas on July 15. The two players were also captains last year and are each making their fifth All-Star appearances. Wilson’s team won the game last year.
Other frontcourt players selected to start include Indiana Fever rookie Aliyah Boston. She would be the first rookie to start an All-Star game since Shoni Schimmel in 2014. A total of eight rookies were selected to start the All-Star Game.
Satou Sabally from Dallas and Elena Delle Donne from Washington round out the starters in advance.
The backcourt starters are teammates Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young from Las Vegas, Jewell Loyd from Seattle and Arike Ogunbowale from Dallas.
The reserves are selected by the league’s head coaches, who choose three guards, five frontfielders, and four at both positions. Coaches cannot vote for their own players. Reserves will be announced on July 1st.
Stewart and Wilson will draft their rosters on July 8th.
The fan vote accounts for 50% of the votes to determine the starters for the game. WNBA players and a media panel each account for 25%. Players’ scores were calculated by averaging their weighted ranks from the three groups.
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