A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark headline first-round fan voting for WNBA All-Star Game

The first round of WNBA All-Star Game fan voting is complete. Las Vegas Aces and Indiana Fever stars A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark are atop the leaderboard for the early returns.

Wilson leads after the first round of fan voting with 217,773 votes. She is the WNBA’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, posting averages of 27.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.

Clark, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, follows Wilson with 216,427 votes. Clark was named the WNBA Rookie of the Month in May, leading all rookies with 17.6 points and 6.6 assists while averaging 5.1 rebounds per game. Clark became the third player — following Candace Parker and Sabrina Ionescu — in WNBA history with 100 or more points, 30 or more rebounds and 30 or more assists in her first six career games.

Aliyah Boston (171,864), Breanna Stewart (151,984) and Arike Ogunbowale (130,838) round out the top five of first-round All-Star votes.

Angel Reese, the No. 7 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, is seventh in voting (118,490 votes). The Chicago Sky forward is tied for second in the WNBA in rebounding (10.8 rebounds per game). Reese became the first rookie in WNBA history to record seven straight double-doubles when she tallied 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in Thursday’s 83-72 win over the Dallas Wings.

In 2023, Wilson led the final fan voting with 95,860 votes, with four players receiving more than 70,000 votes. In 2024, after one round of fan voting, there are 17 players with more than 70,000 votes.

The WNBA All-Star selection process is divided up between fans (50 percent of the vote), current WNBA players (25 percent) and a panel of national sportswriters and broadcasters (25 percent). Once the initial voting period is complete with all three groups, the top 10 vote-getters are automatically selected for the All-Star Game.

The 20th WNBA All-Star Game will be a contest between players from the U.S. women’s national basketball team and the WNBA All-Star team. Any player who is top 10 in votes but not already named to the Team USA squad will automatically be selected for the WNBA All-Star team.

Twelve coaches will decide from a group of the next 36 players with the most votes who will round out the 12-player WNBA All-Star team.

The 2024 WNBA All-Star Game rosters will be announced on July 2. The game takes place on July 20.

Rookies, Fever lead the way

Of the top 30 players in the fan vote, seven of them are members of the 2024 rookie class, which has catapulted a surge of interest in the league. Headlined by Clark in second place, fellow 2024 draftees Reese, Cameron Brink, Kate Martin, Kamilla Cardoso, Rickea Jackson and Aaliyah Edwards all received at least 40,000 votes in the initial returns. Within that pool, both Clark and Reese figure to have a good chance of making the All-Star roster given their strong assist and rebounding numbers, respectively, through the first third of the WNBA season.

Clark’s popularity has trickled down to other members of the Indiana Fever. Boston and Kelsey Mitchell were already 2023 All-Stars, but top-30 showings for NaLyssa Smith, Temi Fagbenle, and Katie Lou Samuelson — all of whom haven’t even been full-time starters (or even played the full season) for the 6-10 Fever this year — is a strong indicator of the rise in Indiana fandom. Before Boston and Mitchell broke through in 2023, the Fever had produced only two All-Stars since 2016 (Candice Dupree and Erica Wheeler), the last year they made the playoffs. — Sabreena Merchant, women’s basketball staff writer

Rhyne Howard, Brionna Jones and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton among curious omissions

The format of All-Star voting is a little strange this year with fans invited to vote for members for Team USA, even though those players are already assured of an All-Star spot — as a result, it’s unclear whether fans will choose to vote for those players or select specifically for Team WNBA.

Even so, there are some notable absences from this list of players who should be no-brainer All-Stars. Former All-Stars Rhyne Howard, Brionna Jones, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Ezi Magbegor stand out, as each is top 20 in win shares this season. Alanna Smith, who would be a first-time honoree, is also in the top 20 and has been a critical piece of the 12-3 Lynx. Jonquel Jones and Kayla McBride each made the initial cut, but are far lower than their first-team All-WNBA starts to the season would suggest. These players are likely to get more love from the players, media and coaches’ votes as their fan tallies are not nearly representative of their production in the 2024 season. — Merchant

Top 10 WNBA All-Star voting standings after first round (*= selected on Team USA)

1. A’ja Wilson* (217,773)
2. Caitlin Clark (216,427)
3. Aliyah Boston (171,864)
4. Breanna Stewart* (151,984)
5. Arike Ogunbowale (130,838)
6. Sabrina Ionescu* (118,949)
7. Angel Reese (118,490)
8. Kelsey Plum* (117,217)
9. Napheesa Collier* (103,550)
10. Dearica Hamby (97,094)

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(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)