The 2026 WNBA All-Star Game rosters are set after Hall of Famers Teresa Weatherspoon and Cynthia Cooper picked their teams on Wednesday.
Cooper and Weatherspoon were selected as general managers to construct the rosters for the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game, which will be in Chicago, Illinois, at the historic United Center.
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“Team Coop” was awarded the top pick via coin flip. Paige Bueckers was the first pick, as the Dallas Wings star point guard received the most votes from the fans.
“Paige does it all,” Cooper said. “She can shoot the 3, she scores on all three levels, but the most important thing, she is a leader on the floor. She is getting her entire team really involved in everything that they do.”
Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark earned the second-most fan votes and was given to “Team Spoon.” Clark won the 2024 Rookie of the Year Award, while Bueckers won the award last year.
Weatherspoon had the first pick for the rest of the starters and she went with Las Vegas superstar A’ja Wilson. Weatherspoon rounded out her starters with Olivia Miles (Minnesota Lynx), Aliyah Boston (Fever) and Jessica Shepard (Wings).
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Weatherspoon’s bench is Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream), Allisha Gray (Dream), Jonquel Jones (New York Liberty), Courtney Williams (Lynx), Kiki Iriafen (Washington Mystics) and Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks).
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve will coach “Team Spoon” in Chicago.
“Kind of put together a well-balanced basketball team,” Weatherspoon said.
Cooper’s first pick was Breanna Stewart of the Liberty. Stewart will start alongside Bueckers, Kelsey Mitchell (Fever), Natasha Howard (Lynx) and Gabby Williams (Golden State Valkyries).
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“Team Coop,” coached by Vegas coach Becky Hammon, has a bench of Angel Reese (Dream), Marina Mabrey (Toronto Tempo), Dominique Malonga (Seattle Storm), Kelsey Plum (Sparks), Jackie Young (Aces) and Sonia Citron (Mystics).
The two teams will play for a $100,000 prize pool to benefit two Chicago-based organizations focused on retaining girls in sports. The organization paired with the winning team will get $70,000.
Team Collier beat Team Clark last year in Indiana. Clark didn’t play because of injuries. Napheesa Collier was named the MVP. She finished with 36 points in only 18 minutes of action.
Alexa Philippou of ESPN believes Clark will win the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game MVP. Since Clark is an intense competitor, she may go off this year in Chicago at the historic United Center because she didn’t play last year in Indiana.
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Against the Aces on July 12), Clark became the fastest player in WNBA history to record 600 assists, doing so in 72 games played, surpassing the previous record of 81 games held by Katie Smith. Clark finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 24 minutes, helping the Fever beat the Aces by 34 points.
