Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese named to WNBA All-Star team

CNN
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Indiana Fever rookies Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese have been selected to the WNBA All-Star team for the first time, the league announced Tuesday.

This marks the first time since 2014 that two rookies have been WNBA All-Stars in the same season.

Reese, who was also named WNBA Rookie of the Month for June, was emotional upon learning of her selection to the All-Star team.

“I’m just so happy,” she told reporters through tears. “All the work I put in, when I came into this league, so many people doubted me — they didn’t think my game would work and that I wouldn’t be the player I was in college … I trusted the process and I believed in it.”

Against the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, Reese recorded her 11th consecutive double-double – extending her single-season league record – with a franchise-record 19 rebounds in the Sky’s 85-77 win. She now moves within one of Candace Parker’s all-time record for consecutive double-doubles, which she accomplished in two seasons.

Clark was named Rookie of the Month in May and has consistently drawn huge crowds during her time in the WNBA. On Tuesday, 20,366 watched her Fever lose 88-69 to the Las Vegas Aces, the fifth-largest crowd in league history and the largest since 1999.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been her teammate before, not even at USA Basketball,” Clark said of teaming up with former college rival Reese, according to ESPN. “I know people are going to be really excited about it, but I hope it doesn’t come at the expense of everyone else.

“Obviously this is something that is very difficult to achieve, so the best we can do is celebrate them all in a great way and just take them in. Because you never know if you can come back and it will be fun for all of us.

The two debutants on the 12-person WNBA roster are joined by two-time All-Star Aliyah Boston (Fever), four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings) and nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle Storm).

On July 20, the WNBA team will face the U.S. women’s national basketball team at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. The game is sold out.

Six-time All-Star A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces will headline Team USA for the 20th All-Star Game. Wilson will be joined by six-time All-Star Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty), 11-time All-Star Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and 10-time All-Star Brittney Griner (Mercury).

This will be the second time that the All-Star game will be held using the USA Basketball vs. Team WNBA format.

In 2021, Team WNBA defeated Team USA 93-85 in Las Vegas ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

The All-Stars were chosen by fans (50% of the vote), current WNBA players (25%), and a national panel of announcers and sportswriters (25%).