A'ja Wilson drafts Aces teammates, Aliyah Boston for WNBA All-Star Game
Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner was an honorary starter for last year’s WNBA All-Star Game while she was detained in Russia. This year, Griner will be on the court starting for captain Breanna Stewart’s team.
Stewart selected Griner with the second overall pick because of “the way that she’s continuing to carry herself on and off the court.” Griner returned to the U.S. from Russia in December following a nearly 10-month detainment and is averaging 19.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in her first season back on the court.
“It’s impressive what she’s doing. She’s a dominant presence inside. We need her dunks,” Stewart, who is serving as a WNBA All-Star captain for the second time, said during ESPN’s selection special on Saturday.
The All-Star Game will be held July 15 in Las Vegas at the Michelob ULTRA Arena, home of the defending champion Las Vegas Aces. It will be Team Stewart vs. Team A'ja Wilson for the second year in a row, but you might as well call it Team Vegas vs. Team New York.
WNBA ALL-STAR STARTERS: Brittney Griner, Aliyah Boston and more
Wilson kept it in the family by selecting Aces teammate Chelsea Gray with her first overall pick because “you need to have a great point guard when it comes to games like this.” Wilson followed that pick up with another teammate: Jackie Young. Wilson’s starters were rounded out by fellow South Carolina Gamecocks alum Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever) and Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale.
Wilson’s reserves feature another Aces teammate — Kelsey Plum — in addition to the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner, Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray and Cheyenne Parker and Washington Mystics’ Elena Delle Donne.
“You got too many teammates,” Stewart said to Wilson, who is serving as a captain for the third time.
But Stewart followed a similar strategy. “I have new and old teammates on the board. I’m going for the win. We have to redeem ourselves. We have to,” said Stewart, whose team lost to Team Wilson in Chicago last year.
Steart's squad is filled with New York Liberty teammates (Courtney Vandersloot, Sabrina Ionescu), former Seattle Storm teammates (Jewell Loyd, Eziyoda Magbegor) and University of Connecticut Huskies alumni (Napheesa Collier).
“That’s cute,” Wilson chided. “Little Huskies stuff.”
Stewart’s team is rounded out by the Wings’ Satou Sabally, whom she played overseas with, Los Angeles Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike, Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell and Chicago Sky’s Kahleah Copper.