2023 WNBA All-Star Game: The Showdown of the Best in Women's Basketball

Experience women’s basketball at its finest! The Women’s National Basketball Association All-Star Game is an annual hoops exhibition game played in the United States between the best players of the Western and Eastern Conference that packs plenty of thrills and skills every year. Book your tickets now folks! The AT&T WNBA All-Star 2023 – the 19^th All-Star Game in league history – will be played on Saturday, July 15, with other pre-All-Star activities on Friday, July 14 in Las Vegas.

In addition to the WNBA All-Star Game 2023, the WNBA is hosting its “WNBA Live” fan festival again. An exciting, interactive event open to the public, “WNBA Live” provides fans an opportunity to experience the intersection of the WNBA, entertainment and culture. You can even register for free now – find link below!

Today we’ll share everything you need to know about this year’s unique All-Star format. Plus, answer all your questions and take a walk through All-Star highlights and history with some fun facts.

Next year’s 2024 All-Star will be held in Phoenix, Arizona in July, serving as a home game for Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi, and a sendoff to the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced.

WNBA All-Star Rosters 2023: Who will be at the WNBA All-Star weekend?

The results are in! Two-time Kia WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and 2018 Kia WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty lead the list of 10 players – four guards and six frontcourt players – selected by fans, current WNBA players and media to start in the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game the WNBA announced.

A’ja and Breanna, each selected as an All-Star for the fifth time, will serve as official team captains by virtue of being the two All-Star starters who finished with the most fan votes. This marks the second consecutive year that A’ja and Breanna finished No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in fan voting.

Rounding out the starters in the frontcourt are 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever, nine-time All-Star Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury, 2016 Kia WNBA MVP and eight-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks and two-time All-Star Satou Sabally of the Dallas Wings.

The starting backcourt will feature five-time All-Stars Chelsea Gray of Las Vegas and Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm, three-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale of Dallas and two-time All-Star Jackie Young of Las Vegas.

The 12 reserves are led by WNBA career triple-doubles leader Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun and two-time Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics. Joining the frontcourt as well are Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner, the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, the Seattle Storm’s Ezi Magbegor and the Atlanta Dream’s Cheyenne Parker. Reserves at the guard position are the Chicago Sky’s Kahleah Copper, Atlanta’s Allisha Gray, the New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, the Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell, the Las Vegas Aces’ Kelsey Plum and New York’s Courtney Vandersloot. Gray, Magbegor, Mitchell and Parker have each been named All-Stars for the first time.

Here’s how the captains drafted their rosters by selecting first from the pool of eight remaining starters and then from the pool of 12 reserves.

However Elena Delle Donne got injured, so Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard, the 2022 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year, has been named by WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to replace her.

The head coaches for the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star are the head coaches of the two teams with the best records following games completed on Friday, June 30, regardless of conference: Team Wilson will be led by Las Vegas Aces Head Coach Becky Hammon and the Aces coaching staff. Connecticut Sun Head Coach Stephanie White and her Sun staff will coach Team Stewart. Team Wilson will wear black uniforms; Team Stewart will wear orange uniforms.

WNBA All-Star Weekend Schedule

Find the complete list of things to do here provided by the WNBA. There is also a cool event hosted by FLAGRANT X adidas, fashion events, and a Jordan sponsored 3×3 competition and much more: check out the helpful list of events compiled by Subria Whitaker here.

Friday: The weekend kicks off with WNBA Live presented by U.S. Bank, a two-day, interactive fan festival that will celebrate the intersection of the WNBA, fashion, music, and culture. Find it in Mandalay Bay Convention Center’s Bayside Hall F on Friday, July 14 at 12 PT til Saturday, July 15 at 8 PT. Here are a couple of highlights:

• Catch the fireside chat with Sue Bird at 2:30pm
• If you need to up your swag, be sure to stop by the Playa Society pop up there.
• You also have an opportunity to showcase your own basketball skills and win prizes while participating in a 30-second version of the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge
• Plus check out the Shoot Your Shot Competition on the STARRY Court to test your own 3-point shooting skills for a chance to win prize money: the fan who makes the most 3-point shots in 60 seconds will win $33,333.

Don’t miss Friday: The WNBA Skills Challenge and WNBA Three Point Contest are Friday July 14 at 4 ET / 1 PT on ESPN.

Don’t miss Saturday: The WNBA All-Star game is Saturday July 15, 2024 at 8:30 ET /5:30 PT on ABC.

How To Watch The 2023 WNBA All-Star Game At Home

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2023 will be played on Saturday, July 15, and will be broadcast on ABC at 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET.

Play A Fun WNBA All-Star Predictions Game

Add a little fun to your watch party this year with a set of 20 prediction questions and two tie breakers about the 2023 contest. Print these handy sheets out at home and fight for glory: Who will get the most right? Get the All-Star Game Printable here.

Special Rules for the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game

First implemented for the 2022 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago to provide added excitement and an enhanced pace of play, the following three rules are making a come back for the 2023 game:

1. Four point shot: Four circles – two at each end of the court – will be placed above the current three-point line (22 feet, 1.75 inches from the center of the rim) at a distance of 28-feet from the rim. Each circle will be designated as the 4-point shot area. Any shot made by a player who has contact within the 4-point circle upon attempting the shot will be credited as four points.
2. 20-second shot clock: The shot clock will be shortened from 24 to 20 seconds. The shot clock will still reset to 14 seconds after an offensive rebound.
3. Automatic points for free-throw attempts: ‘no free throws’: In circumstances that would require a player to shoot free throw(s), the player will automatically be credited with the maximum available point(s) given the situation.  In such cases, the box score will reflect the appropriate number of free-throws as attempted and as made. The only time in which players will physically attempt a free throw will be during the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and during the entirety of any overtime period(s).

WNBA All-Star Game 2023 Date

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2023, the 19^th All-Star Game in league history, will be played on Saturday, July 15. The AT&T WNBA All-Star Game is the centerpiece of two full days packed with WNBA activities, including the WNBA STARRY^® 3-Point Contest and Kia WNBA Skills Challenge. The WNBA also will host its “WNBA Live” fan festival, now in its second year taking place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Register now for free admission!

WNBA All-Star Game 2023 Location

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2023 will be played in Las Vegas at the Michelob Ultra Arena, home of the defending WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces, on Saturday, July 15 – and will be the centerpiece of two full days packed with WNBA activities, the league announced. This marks the third time Las Vegas will host the WNBA’s midseason showcase, most recently in 2021.

“The WNBA is thrilled to bring AT&T WNBA All-Star 2023, to Las Vegas, a city that showed such incredible support for the Aces and the WNBA throughout last season, especially during the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV when the Aces brought the city its first professional sports championship,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

“This will be the third AT&T WNBA All-Star Game to take place in Las Vegas, where we had memorable experiences in 2019 and 2021. And I can’t think of a better location for us to host our second annual “WNBA Live” interactive fan event that will give WNBA fans two days of incredible opportunities to engage with our brand and partners who have stepped up to support the WNBA.”

Explore the Mandalay Bay location and directions here.

Get Tickets for the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game

Tickets for the 2023 AT&T All-Star Game on July 15 as well as tickets for the WNBA 3-Point Contest in partnership with PepsiCo and WNBA Skills Challenge on July 14 may be purchased by visiting the AXS website.

Explore WNBA All-Star Game Highlights

Watch the 2022 WNBA All-Star highlights here:

Watch the full game highlights from 2021 here:

And check out the best mic-ed up moments too.

MTN DEW 3-Point Contest Highlights:

Allie Quigley‘s 30 points were a record for the contest, and she is now the only player in WNBA or NBA history to win the 3-Point Contest four times. 

“It’s definitely not easy. It’s stressful, really.” Allie said of the contest. The first round was quite competitive, as Washington Mystics guard Ariel Atkins went first and set the tone with 24 points. No. 1 overall pick Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream matched that with 24 of her own. So each of them secured a ticket to the final round, along with the reigning champion who made every shot on her money ball rack to put up 26 points. 

Her wife Courtney Vandersloot added, “When she’s out there, she makes it look so calm, and so easy… when she made all her money rack shots, I knew there was a good chance, because she only needed six more points or something.”

WNBA All-Star Game History & Fun Facts

1. Did you know that Team USA took on a group of WNBA All-Stars in an exhibition during the 2004 Olympic year previously? And that the “Stars at the Sun” showcase in 2010 featured the same matchup of All-Stars versus Olympians? However neither was considered a WNBA All-Star Game.
2. Who was the very first WNBA All-Star MVP? None other than Lisa Leslie in 1999, who won the honor three times (as she won again in 2001 and 2002)!
3. Four WNBA cities have never been selected to host the All-Star game: Atlanta, Dallas, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles.
4. In 2021, the game format changed, using the Elam Ending in the fourth period.
5. The first WNBA All-Star Game was held in 1999 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where All-Star MVP Lisa Leslie led the West past the East 79-61. Check out the box scores from the 99 All-Star game.
6. Who’s had the most appearances in WNBA All-Star games? Sue Bird has the most appearances in the WNBA All-Star game, with 12 showings. She’s followed closely by Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi, both with 10 selections.