AT&T WNBA All-Star '23 Diaries

Brian Martin

LAS VEGAS – They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but when it comes to WNBA All-Star 2023, what happened in Vegas will go down in the record books.

Jewell Loyd was named the game’s MVP after scoring an All-Star record 31 points while hitting an All-Star record ten 3-pointers to lead Team Stewart to an All-Star record 143 points in a 143-127 win over Team Wilson on Saturday night.

Loyd’s historic performance came a day after Sabrina Ionescu put on a shooting display unlike anything ever seen before in WNBA or NBA history as she drained 20 straight shots, missed only two, and posted a record score of 37 out of 40 in the Starry 3-Point Contest.

We’ll dive into those stories and much more from a memorable weekend in Las Vegas.

Happy Anniversary from Jewell

What is the perfect gift for a couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary? How about watching their daughter score a WNBA All-Star record 31 points and earn Most Valuable Player honors while you’re cheering from the stands?

“I played hard because my parents didn’t have a gift for their anniversary, so I think this will be acceptable,” she said. “I hope it is.”

Loyd quickly admitted that she was gunning for the MVP entering the game. She had a plan to put up a lot of 3-pointers – and even a couple of 4-point shots – to help her rack up the points and put her in a position to not only take home the now much larger MVP trophy but also break the All-Star scoring record.

“It was a goal of mine, to be honest with you,” she said. “But at the same time, my niece and nephew wanted me to go for it, so anything for them, right?”

Team Wilson tried their best to prevent Loyd from breaking the scoring record. With Loyd sitting on 28 points with under three minutes to play, Team Wilson trapped her on the catch and forced her into a fadeaway 3-point attempt that missed severely with 2:22 to play. But Griner was there for the offensive rebound (her seventh of the game), and Loyd did a great job of relocating to an open spot beyond the arc on the opposite wing, where Griner found her with the pass, and Loyd splashed the three to reach 31 points.

Sabrina Shoots the Lights Out

Last year in Chicago, veteran sharpshooter Allie Quigley came out of 3-point contest retirement for one final run at long-distance shooting dominance with the All-Star festivities so close to her hometown. Quigley didn’t disappoint as she posted a WNBA-record score of 30 out of a possible 40 to claim her fourth 3-point contest championship.

On Friday, Quigley – who has taken the year off from the WNBA after 14 seasons in the league — was in the stands and witnessed the greatest 3-point shooting competition round in WNBA or NBA history.

Ionescu not only shattered Quigley’s record, she topped every WNBA or NBA player to take that course around the 3-point line, trying to splash as many 3-pointers as possible. Even Stephen Curry, the man regarded by most as the greatest shooter ever, could only respond to what Ionescu did on Saturday with one word: Ridiculous.

Sabrina not only wears the No. 20, but she also made 20 consecutive shots in the final round of the 3-point contest. The previous mark for consecutive 3-pointers made in a 3-point contest was 19 by Craig Hodges in 1991.

After missing her first shot of the round, she then cleared the rest of her first rack, made all five at her all-money-ball rack, made the Starry 3-point ball from three feet behind the 3-point line, made all five on her third rack at the top of the key, made the second Starry ball, then made the first four shots on the fourth rack on the right wing. After just her second miss of the round, Ionescu would not miss again, clearing the final rack from the right corner to finish with 37 out of a possible 40 points.

The reactions from her fellow players were incredible to see, as was the dumbfounded look on Quigley’s face when the camera found her sitting in the audience.

Welcome Back BG

While Loyd and Ionescu’s accomplishments over the past two days were historic, they could not overshadow the collective joy of having Brittney Griner back on the All-Star stage.

The Mercury center, who missed the entire 2022 WNBA season while being detained in Russia for ten months, was welcomed by a rousing ovation from the Las Vegas crowd during pregame introductions and responded by throwing down three dunks and finishing with 18 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks for Team Stewart.

“I’m just happy to be here in this building,” Griner said. “All-Star is a fun time that we get to all be together. You really get to learn everybody’s personality. What you see on the court is fun, but in the locker room, [those] hours before the game, that’s where all the little moments that you take away always happen. That’s what I always look forward to.

“And then just being here with them after everything that they did to support me through one of the toughest times, it just means everything to be right here.”

Griner was named an honorary All-Star in 2022, and at halftime, every player switched jerseys to wear Griner’s name and No. 42 for the second half of the game. When speaking with the media on Friday and reflecting on where she was a year ago compared to today, Griner said the moment was a bit surreal and that she was just taking everything in, but that she was more appreciative of being back on the court and everything that comes with it – yes, even the early mornings, late nights, hard practices and suicide sprints.

After returning home in December, Griner announced her intentions to return to the Mercury and began working to get herself ready for the 2023 season. The fact that she was back was already huge, but that she returned and earned another All-Star starting nod was remarkable. And when it came time to pick teams, Breanna Stewart knew one player had to be on her team.

“Looking back to last year, especially at All-Star, and throughout the entire season, there was a void in the WNBA, there was something that’s missing, and that was BG,” Stewart said on Friday. “But fast forwarding to this year’s All-Star, it’s incredible to have her here, obviously to have her sitting next to me, to have her on my team. That was like my number one [priority]. I had to do some like behind-the-scenes negotiations to make sure I got everything right, the way I wanted it.”

A’ja vs. Stewie

This was the second straight All-Star Game that featured Team Wilson vs. Team Stewart in the fifth year of the team captains format, where the leading vote-getters in each conference serve as captains and select their teams from all available All-Stars.

A year ago, it was Team Wilson that came out on top, 134-112, behind the MVP performance of Kelsey Plum, who scored a then-record-tying 30 points. On Saturday, Team Stewart took control of the game in the second quarter and never trailed again, leading by as many as 26 points before finishing with a 143-127 win.

With the Team Wilson vs. Team Stewart series tied at 1-1, there is already talk of a rubber match in Phoenix – which was announced as the host of the 2024 All-Star Game.

“Yeah, I’m definitely looking for it,” said A’ja Wilson. “This wasn’t a good showing by us. We got to do better. But, yeah, congratulations, Stewie.”

This ignited a fun back-and-forth as the team captains shared the podium with Griner during the postgame press conference.

STEWART: Thank you. I must say we were working on ball screens yesterday in practice. We were doing a lot —

WILSON: My team, we had a curfew last night, and I don’t think they got there.

GRINER: Did someone check your room, though?

WILSON: Listen, I was out checking everybody else’s room. They didn’t need to check mine.

STEWART: I was supplying water to my team, making sure everybody was hydrated and ready to go.

WILSON: This wasn’t our best showing, but we’ll be back in Phoenix. Catch us there.

The banter continued after the group was asked about lessons from this week that would be beneficial moving forward.

GRINER: Go to bed on time. Go to bed on time and drink a lot of water.

STEWART: Yes, drink water. Make sure you eat. When you’re really busy, sometimes you forget to eat.

WILSON: Eat. Eat. I haven’t had a meal since L.A.

GRINER: I had a snow cone. I had a snow cone on the bench.

STEWART: I asked for a blue raspberry. It never came.

GRINER: Tiger’s blood. It was good. It was fire.

WILSON: I missed out. That’s why y’all won.

STEWART: You could have come to our team.

GRINER: I had a plate of bacon at breakfast, Jack in the Box.

WILSON: All right. Makes sense. This seems like sabotage.

Here’s hoping we get another All-Star matchup between these two captains in the near future. We’re guaranteed to get plenty of Wilson vs. Stewart matchups over the next six weeks and potentially more should the two title favorites meet in the postseason.

In addition to three regular-season meetings on the schedule – Aug. 6 at New York, Aug. 17 at Las Vegas, and Aug. 28 at New York – the Aces and Liberty will meet in the third annual Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game in Las Vegas on Aug. 15 (9 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime).

“I mean, everyone loves a good rivalry,” said Wilson. “Everyone is kind of locked in always to our matchup.”

Stewart and Wilson have combined to win three of the past five league MVPs (Stewart in 2018, Wilson in 2020 and 2022) and WNBA titles (each winning in the same season they won MVP honors). Throughout their careers, Wilson and Stewart have met 12 times in the regular season, with Wilson’s Aces holding an 8-4 edge over Stewart’s teams in Seattle (4-7) and New York (0-1).

Their teams have met twice in the playoffs, with Stewart’s Storm sweeping Wilson’s Aces 3-0 in the 2020 WNBA Finals and Wilson’s Aces defeating Stewart’s Storm 3-1 in last year’s semifinals en route to their first WNBA title. The series-clinching loss marked the final game of Stewart’s Seattle tenure as she left the Storm in free agency to join a Liberty squad alongside Ionescu, Courtney Vandersloot, and Jonquel Jones looking to counter the talent-rich roster of the Aces, which includes a league-high four All-Stars.

“I think it’s huge,” said Wilson of the concurrent rise of both her and Stewart. “We’re slowly starting to shatter that glass ceiling that people have been trying to knock at for a minute, and it’s pretty awesome to see how much Stewie and I have really grown. I feel like we’ve been playing against each other since, obviously, the UConn-South Carolina days. So, for our fans to watch us grow and now be where we are as faces of the league, it’s just a lot of fun. We’re always gonna be cool with one another, and hopefully, we see this matchup a lot when it comes to All-Star.”

Five first-time All-Stars

When Wilson and Stewart came together to select their teams last week, a few perennial names were missing from the All-Star pool. Sue Bird, who holds the record with 13 All-Star appearances, and eight-time All-Star Sylvia Fowles, who capped her final All-Star appearance last year with one final slam dunk, are both retired.

There’s also 10-time All-Star Diana Taurasi, who has dealt with a hamstring injury; seven-time All-Star Candace Parker, who has dealt with an ankle injury; and while seven-time All-Star Elena Delle Donne was available to draft, she fell to the final pick due to an ankle injury and was eventually replaced by Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard.

With some of the familiar All-Star faces not suiting up this year, five new faces made their All-Star debuts this weekend. The first-timers are a combination of young talent – 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston of Indiana and fourth-year center Ezi Magbegor of Seattle – as well as three veterans, who were able to break through to earn All-Star status for the first time.

That trio includes Atlanta teammates Allisha Gray and Cheyenne Parker – who are both in the middle of career-best years in their seventh and ninth seasons, respectively; and Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell, who has put up All-Star numbers for a struggling Fever team the past few years, and has been a key piece to Indiana’s marked improvement this season along with the addition of Boston.

On Saturday, Boston became the first rookie to start in the All-Star Game since 2014 and didn’t wait long to make her presence felt, scoring the first points of the game with a driving layup just 30 seconds into the contest.

Boston finished with six points and 11 boards in 19 minutes in her All-Star debut for Team Wilson, while Parker (14 points, six rebounds) and Gray (10 points, two rebounds) each posted 18 minutes off the bench for Team Wilson. Meanwhile, Team Stewart’s two first-time All-Stars – Ezi Magbegor and Kelsey Mitchell – finished with two points and two assists in 12 minutes of action off the bench.

Forever Teammates

With the first pick in the All-Star draft, Wilson selected Aces point guard Chelsea Gray, setting up a theme of Wilson and Stewart selecting their own teammates to flow throughout the draft.

Wilson made sure to have all four Aces (Plum, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young) on her squad, a team led by Aces head coach Becky Hammon. Stewart followed suit. After making Griner her first pick, Stewart added her two current Liberty teammates (Courtney Vandersloot and Ionescu) and her former Storm teammates (Loyd and Magbegor).

Wilson knew she had to have Young on her team this time after she was the long Ace on Team Stewart last year. Wilson, Plum, and then-Ace Dearica Hamby made it a point to make life miserable for Young for the one day that they were opponents, trapping her and locking her down defensively in her first All-Star appearance.

“She actually said that was the worst All-Star experience of her life,” Wilson said on Friday. “That’s why I had to draft her. I was like, ‘Oh God, don’t say of your life.’ She was like, ‘It’s my first, and it was my worst.’ I said, ‘Ooh, Jackie. I’m sorry.'”

In addition to keeping the Aces together, Wilson also grabbed two fellow South Carolina Gamecocks for her team – her former roommate Allisha Gray and the rookie in Boston. South Carolina and Notre Dame are tied with three All-Stars apiece among the 23 players selected, which is a point of pride for Wilson.

“The biggest thing is it just shows the legacy, the longevity of what we do at South Carolina and how Coach [Dawn] Staley has prepped us for these moments,” said Wilson. “To yes, be successful in the league, but to be All-Stars in the league. So, it’s super cool to see everybody come together. I know Gamecock fans are excited. They get to see pretty much three waves of different generations coming out of South Carolina playing together in the All-Star Game.”

In her second stint as a team captain, Stewart enjoyed playing the role of GM and assembling her team. She relied on previous and existing relationships to find herself on the winning side this time around.

“It is a lot of fun to be able to draft the players that I want,” she said. “Starting with BG and picking Sabrina, Sloot, and Jewell, and Ezi, it’s a lot of players that I’ve had relationships with them, and the opportunity to share the court that’s what the All-Star Game is about.”

Stewart finished with a game-high nine assists on Saturday, matching the most she’s ever dished out in any game in her WNBA career. Four of those nine dimes went to Loyd (Loyd returned the favor with two of her six dimes going to Stewart) as the connection between the former Storm teammates remains strong.

Better Shooting from 4-Point Range

The WNBA introduced several new rules at last year’s All-Star Game that carried over to this year: the 4-point shot, 20-second shot clock, and removing free throw shooting until the game’s final two minutes.

The 4-point shot, which consists of two circles placed six feet beyond the 3-point line on each end of the court, yielded much better results in its second year. Last year, the teams combined to shoot just 5-of-29 (17.2%) from 4-point range. This year, the 4-point shooting improved to 12-50 (24%).

Loyd hit the first 4-point shot of the night just 2 ½ minutes into the game, and it stood as the only 4-pointer made in the opening quarter. But the teams found the range in the second quarter, led by 3-point champ Ionescu, who made a game-high three 4-point shots, all in the second quarter as she briefly reenacted her shooting performance from Friday.

Howard, Plum, and Napheesa Collier each hit two 4-pointers for the game. After the game, Plum said she had some added motivation to be aggressive in Saturday’s game as Under Armour offered to donate $1,000 for every shot she made (she finished with 11 buckets for $11K), and Google offered to donate $1,000 for every assist she dished (she finished with five dimes for $5K), with all donations going to Child Haven in Las Vegas.

Generational Shift

Each year, All-Star gives us a snapshot of what the league looks like at that particular moment. Whether its which individual players are excelling, which teams have produced the most All-Stars and are thus likely at the top of the standings, or whether the top players in the league are at the beginning, middle, or end of their career arcs.

This year’s 23 All-Stars have an average experience of 6.2 seasons, with only three players with 10+ years of experience in the league, compared to eight with less than five years of experience.

Wilson, who earned her fifth All-Star selection in her sixth WNBA season – the only season she wasn’t named an All-Star was in 2020 when there was no All-Star Game – was quick to shoot down a suggestion that she could be headed into an elder stateswoman stage of her WNBA career.

“Oh, Lord, no. No, I still got some time. I still got some winning to do before I can even say that,” she said. “I still feel like I’m a young gun in this league. But definitely, everyone’s starting to pass the torch. You just feel it. You feel this shift in women’s sports. I’m so glad that I am on the upward curve of it because a lot of people laid the foundation down for us to be able to play this game that we love. So, I don’t think I’m up there just yet. I don’t have enough on my resume to say that.”

Loyd, who is in her ninth season, feels like she’s hitting the sweet spot of having her knowledge of the game at an all-time high but is still young enough to execute what her mind is telling her to do on the court.

“We have the wisdom of understanding the game and what it takes to be a vet in the league,” she said, referring to her and former teammate Stewart, who came into the league in back-to-back years. “And we also are still young. So, we have kind of both at the right time. We’re able to understand both sides of it and then really push it.”

But Loyd sees the younger generation coming up and welcomes the challenge as the game continues to grow.

“That’s what you kind of want. You want good talent coming in, you want it to be challenging, so if you’ve been in the league, that’s how you get better,” she said. “And I think that’s what we’re seeing now. The young players are coming in competent and ready to play. And it’s forcing everyone else to get better.”

One player among that young contingent coming in is Rhyne Howard, who represented Team Wilson after being named a replacement for the injured Delle Donne. After being left off the All-Star reserves, Howard went out the next night and dropped a career-high 43 points on the Sparks.

In five games in July, Howard is averaging 24.4 points on 52.4% shooting from the field, 42.9% from 3-point range on nearly ten attempts per game. Howard took her All-Star snub personally and promised that the league was not safe from her wrath.

“No, they’re not. Just because I am in it [All-Star] now does not mean that they’re safe,” she said. “Obviously, there is still some speculation as to whether I was an All-Star or not, but I just let it fuel me in a positive way and prove what I know I can do.”

Howard played 15 minutes off the Team Wilson bench on Saturday and put up a shot a minute as she finished with 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-13 from deep, including a pair of 4-point shots

Longtime WNBA reporter Brian Martin writes articles on WNBA.com throughout the season. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the WNBA or its clubs.

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