AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022 by the Numbers


CHICAGO, July 7, 2022 – AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022 will take place on Sunday, July 10 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago (1 p.m. ET, ABC), home of the defending WNBA champion Chicago Sky. This marks the first time that the Windy City will host WNBA All-Star. The 18th WNBA All- Star Game will feature a matchup between Team Wilson and Team Stewart.

Below are facts and figures about AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022:

WNBA All-Star Game

  • 1 – Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard, New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu and Las Vegas Aces guards Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young have been named WNBA All-Stars for the first time.
  • 2 – Aces forward A’ja Wilson will serve as an All-Star captain for the second time, leading Team Wilson with co-captain Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm. Wilson was also a captain in the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game, when Team Wilson defeated Team (Elena) Delle Donne, 129-126, in the highest-scoring All-Star Game in league history.
  • 4 – The Aces and Sky have the most 2022 WNBA All-Star selections with four each.
  • 5 – Players from the Los Angeles Sparks have received the WNBA All-Star Game MVP Award five times, the most by any team (Lisa Leslie: 3; Nikki Teasley: 1; Candace Parker: 1).
  • 6 – Six former Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player Award winners have been selected as WNBA All-Stars this year: Minnesota Lynx center Sylvia Fowles, Connecticut Sun forward Jonquel Jones, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, Sky forward Candace Parker, Storm forward Breanna Stewart and the Aces’ Wilson.
  • 9 – Nine former No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA Draft are among the All-Star Game starters: Bird (2002), Parker (2008), Ogwumike (2012), Stewart (2016), Plum (2017), Wilson (2018), Young (2019), Ionescu (2020) and honorary starter Brittney Griner (2013).
  • 11 – Eleven former No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA Draft are 2022 All-Stars: nine starters listed above, along with reserves Jewell Loyd (2015) of Seattle and Rhyne Howard (2022) of Atlanta.
  • 25 – The WNBA All-Star Game rosters include six members of the W25, the 25 greatest and most influential players in WNBA history, as selected in 2021 to celebrate the league’s 25th season: Bird, Fowles, Griner, Ogwumike, Parker and Stewart.
  • 26 – Dallas Wings guard and 2022 All-Star Arike Ogunbowale won the MVP award at the 2021 WNBA All-Star Game after scoring a game-high 26 points to lead Team WNBA to a 93-85 victory over the All-Stars from the USA Basketball Women’s National Team
  • 29 – Team Stewart co-captains Stewart (4) and Bird (13) and Team Wilson co-captains Wilson (4) and Fowles (8) have combined for 29 All-Star selections. Fowles and Bird have announced that they will retire after the 2022 season.
  • 147 – A total of 147 different players have been selected as WNBA All-Stars in league history.
  • 1,000 – During the weekend, WNBA All-Stars and Legends will participate in community events across Chicago impacting more than 1,000 youth. The events will include: a Her Time To Play clinic and panel discussion with AT&T focused on empowering girls ages 10-16 to play basketball and follow their dreams; a STEM learning experience with Microsoft for Chicago Public School youth to learn how to evaluate athletic performance using math and science; a youth basketball clinic focused on the fundamentals as part of WNBA Live presented by U.S. Bank, and a grocery pop-up with Kaiser Permanente and Goodr to distribute free groceries to families in need.
  • 1999 – The first WNBA All-Star Game was played on July 14, 1999, at Madison Square Garden in New York, where the Sparks’ Lisa Leslie earned MVP honors after leading the Western Conference to a 79-61 win over the Eastern Conference.

Head Coaches

  • 7 – Hammon, who will coach Team Wilson, will be making her seventh WNBA All-Star Game appearance – six as a player and now her first as a head coach.
  • 2021 – After leading Chicago to its first WNBA championship in 2021, Wade will coach an All- Star team for the first time

Sue Bird

  • 3 – Sue Bird is the only WNBA player to win championships in three different decades (2000s, 2010s, 2020s).
  • 13 – Bird has extended her WNBA record for most All-Star selections to 13.
  • 2002 – Bird made her first appearance in the WNBA All-Star Game in 2002, when she helped lead the Western Conference to an 81-76 victory over the Eastern Conference in Washington, D.C.

Sylvia Fowles

  • 2 – Sylvia Fowles has led the Lynx to two WNBA championships (2015, 2017), winning the WNBA Finals MVP Award in each of those years.
  • 4 – Fowles has earned the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, tied with Tamika Catchings for the most in league history.
  • 5 – Fowles has been named a WNBA All-Star for the fifth straight time

Brittney Griner

  • 42 – No. 42 Brittney Griner was named to her eighth WNBA All-Star Game, as selected by Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Griner was chosen as an honorary starter.

WNBA All-Star on ESPN

  • 8 – ESPN play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco and analyst Rebecca Loco will call their eighth WNBA All-Star Game together.
  • 11 – ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe will cover her 11th WNBA All-Star Game.
  • 18 – This year marks the 18th time that ESPN networks will present the WNBA All-Star Game.

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    About the WNBA

    The WNBA, which tipped off its 26th season on May 6, 2022, is a bold, progressive basketball league that stands for the power of women. Featuring 12 teams, the W is a unique sports property that combines competition and entertainment with a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and social responsibility. Through its world-class athletes, the in-game fan experience, TV and digital broadcasts, digital and social content and community outreach programs, the league celebrates and elevates the game of basketball and the culture around it.

    In 2020, the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) signed a groundbreaking eight-year CBA that charts a new course for women’s basketball – and women’s sports overall – with a focus on increased player compensation, improvements to the player experience, expanded career development opportunities and resources specifically tailored to the female professional athlete. Key elements of the agreement are supported through the league’s partnership platform, WNBA Changemakers, with AT&T, the WNBA’s Marquee Partner and inaugural Changemaker, as well as fellow inaugural Changemakers Deloitte and NIKE, Inc, and subsequent additions Google and U.S. Bank. During the 2020 season, the WNBA and WNBPA launched the WNBA Justice Movement forming the Social Justice Council with the mission of being a driving force of necessary change and continuing conversations about race and voting rights, among other important societal issues.