 Shery Swoopes is the leading vote-getter in WNBA All-Star balloting for the fourth time.
Kent Smith
WNBAE/Getty Images |
Swoopes (6-0, Texas Tech '93), who will be making her fourth All-Star appearance, has now been the leading vote-getter in WNBA All-Star Balloting all four times she has been able to play (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003). She started the first two All-Star Games in New York and Phoenix before missing the entire 2001 season with a torn ACL in her left knee. Swoopes returned to the All-Star starting lineup in 2002, scoring 11 points and pulling down six rebounds.
Thompson (6-2, USC '97) will be making a team-best fifth trip to the All-Star Game. She has started each of the previous four All-Star Games, averaging 11.3 points and 6.5 rebounds. Thompson was selected as MVP of the 2000 WNBA All-Star Game, recording 11 points and 13 rebounds, and topped all scorers with 20 points in the 2002 All-Star Game in Washington.
Cooper (5-10, USC '86) earned her third All-Star starting assignment, but will miss the game due to surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff tendon in her right shoulder. Per league rules, WNBA President Val Ackerman will choose a replacement for Cooper on the Western Conference roster and Western Conference Head Coach Michael Cooper will choose a replacement in the starting lineup. Cooper played 18 minutes in the 1999 WNBA All-Star Game, recording seven points and dishing out four assists. She was also voted in as a starter to the 2000 All-Star Game, but did not play due to an ankle injury.
Starters for the 2003 WNBA All-Star Game, to be played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, July 12, were determined by fans via in-arena balloting at all 14 WNBA arenas and online balloting at wnba.com and through America Online, the WNBA's official online balloting partner.
Swoopes will be participating in an online chat with fans on wnba.com on Tuesday, July 1 at 12:30 p.m. CDT.
