INDIANAPOLIS — The 2025 WNBA All-Star Game has a lot to live up to. Last year, the WNBA All-Stars beat the U.S. national team 117-109 in Phoenix, a matchup that helped prepare the Americans for their run to an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
The stakes won’t seem quite as high Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) but pride is still on the line as Team Caitlin Clark meets Team Napheesa Collier. Clark, the Indiana Fever guard, is one of three players who will miss the game due to injuries, along with Atlanta Dream’s Rhyne Howard and the Phoenix Mercury’s Satou Sabally.
Clark, the leading vote-getter in fan balloting, will be helping New York Liberty coach Sandy Brondello guide the team. One of Clark’s Fever teammates, All-Star Aliyah Boston, joked Friday that she hopes Clark will draw up a couple of plays geared toward her.
“She needs to get that clipboard out. We need to see what she’s got. I need a flare-3 or something,” Boston said with a grin. She added, “Caitlin does a great job of pouring into other people regardless of her situation. For us, we’re going to continue to do that and just have some fun.”
Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve is coaching Team Collier after leading the national team last year.
“It’s going to be very different this time,” Reeve acknowledged. “Little more loose and have-fun element to it. … This game will be very player-centric. It’s for the fans.”
ESPN predicts how Saturday’s game will play out. Come back closer to tipoff for live analysis and coverage courtside at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
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Which team will win the All-Star Game and by what score?
Philippou: Team Collier will win by 18 points. It’s notable how much preexisting chemistry Collier’s squad has, between Lynx players Collier, Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride, plus Storm teammates Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins (notably, Collier, Williams, Diggins and Allisha Gray were also all teammates on Unrivaled’s Lunar Owls). Not to mention the sheer talent with Collier, Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas — three of the very top players in the world — all on one team.
Voepel: Everything points toward Team Collier winning the game, including the fact that Team Clark is without two of its voted-on starters in Clark and Satou Sabally. So let’s look at the path Team Clark might need to take to win: hit 3-pointers, and a lot of them. The Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell and New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu are in the top six in the league in 3-pointers made. Mitchell is playing on her home court, and Ionescu won the 3-point shooting contest Friday.
The Washington Mystics’ Sonia Citron and Brittney Sykes and Las Vegas Aces’ Jackie Young could help from behind the arc as well. And even though there isn’t a lot of defense in the All-Star Game, if Team Clark hits from the outside it could stretch the defense to help Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson inside.
Team Clark has chemistry, too, with three Mystics players (Citron, Sykes, Kiki Iriafen), two from the Aces (Wilson and Young) and two from the Fever (Mitchell and Boston).
Which player is your pick for All-Star Game MVP?
Philippou: Caitlin Clark is sidelined for the game, and Lexie Hull bowed out early in the 3-point contest. But Indiana Fever fans won’t leave the weekend disappointed. Franchise stalwart Kelsey Mitchell will go off in front of her home crowd to become the latest guard to take home All-Star Game MVP, a special honor for the longtime Fever star who has stuck with the organization through many highs and lows.
Voepel: The last non-guard to win the honor was wing Maya Moore. The Lynx forward won the MVP three times in a row: 2015, 2017 and 2018 (there was no All-Star Game in 2016, an Olympic year). Candace Parker was the last so-called true post player to win (2013). So maybe it’s time for a post to win again. I’ll go with Collier, who is leading the WNBA in scoring.
Andrews: Ionescu is going to stay hot from her 3-point contest win on Friday and is going to have an All-Star shooting night for the ages, leading her to the MVP. The 4-pointer will only help her dominance.
What matchup are you most excited to see?
Philippou: Kelsey Plum of Team Collier is as fierce a competitor as any and will be going up against two former Aces teammates in Wilson and Young. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Wilson orchestrate some tough defense and trapping on Plum when she has the ball in her hands.
Voepel: Boston and Wilson — the South Carolina Gamecocks grads — on Team Clark vs. Stewart and Collier — the UConn Huskies grads — on Team Collier. All won national championships in college and were WNBA Rookie of the Year award winners. Wilson (twice) and Stewart (three times) are WNBA champions. There are several other good post players in the game, so it’s not certain how often these pairings will be in the game. But it should be fun to watch if they are matched up.
Andrews: The three rookies in the game face off: Citron and Iriafen on Team Clark, and Dallas’ Paige Bueckers on Team Collier. It was only a few months ago these women were lighting it up for Notre Dame, USC and UConn in the NCAA tournament. Then they went No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 in the WNBA draft. As a little game within the game, which rook will step shine despite their lack of experience?