WNBA All-Star Game


The Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game, commonly referred to as the WNBA All-Star Game, is an annual exhibition basketball game played in the United States between the best players of the Western and Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association. Since 2004, the game is not held in years when the Summer Olympics take place.

Structure

Each conference is represented by a team of 12 players who are currently having the best seasons performance-wise around the league. The starters are determined by fans voting through internet ballots. The rest of the players are selected by league personnel including head coaches as well as media personalities. At the end of the game, an all-star game Most Valuable Player is named, as decided by a panel of media members.

History

In 2004, the game was not played in its usual format due to the WNBA players competing in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. That year, the USA national team defeated a team of WNBA All-Stars 74-58 at Radio City Music Hall. This game is officially considered to be an exhibition rather than an All-Star Game. The league also took a month-long break to accommodate players and coaches who would be participating in the summer games.
The tradition of not playing the WNBA All-Star Game during an Olympic year has continued in 2008, 2012, and 2016 The 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the same reason, the beginning of the 2020 WNBA season has been delayed., the league has not announced a revised schedule, and it is unknown whether a 2020 All-Star Game might or might not be played after all.
No official All-Star Game was held in 2010. Instead, there was an exhibition game matching the USA national team against a WNBA All-Star team, with Team USA winning 99–72 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Western Conference leads the overall series 10–4.
Come 2022, the game format may change: the 4th period could use the Elam Ending. The 4th period would have no game clock, but the shot clock would remain. Like their NBA counterpart, the target score is 24 points more than the team leading or tie score through three periods. Whoever gets there will win it; the winning shot is either a walk-off field goal, three-pointer or free throw. With the Elam Ending, no overtime would be played.

All-Star Game results