The Atlanta Dream may be on a five-game losing streak, but they have a very solid team, at least on paper. Angel Reese, an outstanding rebounder and a capable defender, has been developing into a respectable offensive threat, and guard Rhyne Howard has improved her shooting accuracy, both overall and from 3-point range, this season.
Both Reese and Howard were named to the WNBA All-Star Game last season. But when the starters for this year’s All-Star game were announced, their names were not on the list.
Advertisement
Analyst Weighs In on Angel Reese, Rhyne Howard All-Star Voting ‘Disrespect’
In the mind of reporter and commentator Trysta Krick, the Dream has been disrespected by the league and the All-Star game voters since Reese and Howard won’t be starting in the midseason showcase.
“The Atlanta Dream in general are being disrespected a little bit,” Krick said, via Yahoo Sports Daily.
Krick mentioned some quirks in how voting by fans and the media is weighed, and how players who play multiple positions are pigeonholed into specific positions on the ballot.
But she talked about an interesting incident that may have torpedoed Howard’s chances of getting her fourth All-Star nod.
Advertisement
Two months ago, as WNBA training camps were opening, a fan posted photos of Howard from media day on X (formerly Twitter).
That seems innocuous enough, but Howard responded in a way many found outsized, inappropriate, and perhaps even a bit childish.
“One of the biggest things I hate is when people post my media day pictures before I do… it’s now happened 2 years in a row,” Howard wrote, via Feral Swoopes.
A sharp backlash ensued from basketball fans, and Krick surmised that it affected the guard’s fan-voted All-Star voting.
Advertisement
According to official balloting results, Howard was second among WNBA players and fourth among the media, but she finished ninth in fan voting. She’s averaging 18.9 points a game and shooting 41.6% from the field and 36.8% from 3-point range, and while she has made the All-Star team three times, she has never been a starter.
As for Reese, while the third-year player made the All-Star team in both of her first two seasons, she has never been an All-Star starter.
There are those who point to her meager shooting accuracy (41.5% overall and 9.5% from beyond the arc) as the reason she doesn’t deserve to be an All-Star starter, even though she is averaging 14.9 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
She was sixth in voting among players, fans, and the media.
