Players to Watch Ahead of All-Star 2026

Brian Martin

The 10 starters for the 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game were unveiled on Thursday — a group that features a mix of award-winning veterans and rising young stars building out their trophy cases.

Let’s take a closer look at the first 10 players who have punched their tickets to Chicago for All-Star weekend (July 24-25).

Note: The All-Stars are presented in alphabetical order, with all stats through games played on Sunday, July 5.

Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever (4th All-Star selection)

Aliyah Boston #7 of the Indiana Fever

In her fourth WNBA season, Boston earns her fourth All-Star selection as the Fever’s center-forward has been an All-Star staple since entering the league as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 Draft. This season, Boston is averaging a career-best 17.1 points per game (15th in the WNBA) along with 8.6 rebounds per game (9th).

Inside/Outside Threat

Through her first three WNBA seasons combined, Boston made a total of 17 3-pointers over 124 games, shooting just 26.2% from beyond the arc. This season, she has already made 23 3-pointers in just 19 games. Not only is Boston expanding her range, she’s doing so with great efficiency, ranking third among all WNBA players in 3-point percentage at 45.1%.

In addition to ranking fourth among all centers in 3-pointers made, Boston still maintains her back-to-the-basket game, ranking 10th among all players in field goals made within five feet, with 74 buckets on 67.3% shooting.

Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings (2nd All-Star selection)

Not only is Bueckers an All-Star starter for the second time in her sophomore WNBA season, she also led all players in fan voting in 2026, amassing 1,045,051 votes. The reigning Rookie of the Year has elevated her game in her second campaign, averaging career-bests in points (20.3 per game) and assists (6.1 per game) — ranking seventh in the league in both categories. She’s also more efficient, with her 52.3% FG and 39.1% 3-point shooting up 4.5 and 6.0 percentage points, respectively, from a season ago.

Paige Is Clutch

In 11 clutch games, Bueckers has scored a total of 39 points, which ranks fourth in the WNBA and first among the All-Star starters. She has put up those points on 14-for-21 shooting, with her 66.7 FG% ranking fifth among all players with at least 10 clutch shot attempts. Here’s one of her latest clutch moments, putting the Wings up late after they had trailed Connecticut by as many as 14 points.

Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever (3rd All-Star selection)

Similar to Boston and Bueckers, Clark has earned All-Star honors in every one of her WNBA seasons. After missing last year’s game due to injury, this year’s second-leading vote getter (1,023,321) aims to return to the All-Star stage. Earlier this season, Clark surpassed 1,000 points, 250 rebounds and 250 assists in just 54 career games, topping Diana Taurasi’s previous record of 62 games. But that is not the only record in play this season.

Scorer & Playmaker

Clark is the only player to rank in the top five in both points (career-high 21.2 per game, 4th in WNBA) and assists (8.2 per game, 2nd in WNBA) this season as she fuels Indiana’s top-ranked offense. The Fever lead the WNBA in both points per game (93.5) and offensive efficiency (111.6).

Clark is on pace to post a season unlike any other in league history. No player has ever averaged at least 20 points and eight assists per game. In fact, Clark is the only player to ever average at least 16+ ppg and 7+ apg, and now she can set the bar even higher.

Natasha Howard, Minnesota Lynx (3rd All-Star selection)

The league-leading Lynx tout both the oldest and youngest players among the All-Star starters for 2026. Howard is the veteran, earning her third All-Star selection with her third different team after nods in 2019 (with Seattle) and 2022 (with New York).

In her 13th WNBA season, and first back in Minnesota after an eight-year hiatus, Howard is averaging 17.2 points (14th in the WNBA), 8.1 rebounds (13th) and 1.8 steals (3rd). And she’s doing it all on career-best efficiency, shooting 59.8% from the field, which ranks fifth among all players.

Doing Work Inside

As the shot chart above illustrates, Howard handles most of her business in the paint, where she leads the WNBA in scoring (13.7 points per game). In addition to showing off her craftiness with some of her finishes down low, Howard also makes a ton of effort plays. She ranks second in the league in offensive rebounds (3.4 per game) and third in second-chance points (3.8 per game).

Minnesota’s top-ranked defense (98.9 rating) also averages a league-best 18.6 points off turnovers, with Howard leading the charge at 4.6 points per game, which is second in the league among all players.

Olivia Miles, Minnesota Lynx (1st All-Star selection)

Olivia Miles #5 of the Minnesota Lynx

The opposite end of Minnesota’s All-Star duo is the rookie sensation Miles, who leads all first-year players in points (18.5 per game) and assists (5.7 per game), which also rank 12th and eighth, respectively, across the entire WNBA.

As brilliant as Miles has been on offense, she has also shined defensively, with her 96.1 defensive rating leading the 120 players averaging at least 15 minutes per game this season. Her elite two-way impact has helped Miles post a league-best plus/minus of +197 over her first 20 career games.

Continuing A Trend

Miles is on pace to become just the 12th player in league history to average at least 18 points and five rebounds over a full WNBA season. If she maintains this pace, she will become the third straight rookie to do so, joining fellow All-Star starters in Clark (2024) and Bueckers (2025), who each won Rookie of the Year honors.

Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever (4th All-Star selection)

Mitchell earned her first WNBA All-Star selection in 2023, her sixth season in the league. She’s been an All-Star every year since, as she has steadily improved her game year after year: 18.2 points per game in 2023, 19.2 ppg in 2024, 20.2 ppg in 2025 and 21.9 ppg in 2026.

Mitchell’s 21.9 points are a career-high, as is her 48.9% shooting, while her 12 games with 20+ points ranks second in the league only to A’ja Wilson. Mitchell and fellow Fever All-Star Clark form the WNBA’s highest-scoring duo this season at 43.1 points per game.

The Iron Woman

Beginning with her first All-Star season in 2023, Mitchell has not missed a single game over the past four seasons. Her last missed game came at the close of the 2022 season on Aug. 14, meaning she has not missed a game in 1,422 days.

Last season, with the Fever ravaged by injuries, Mitchell carried the Fever to the brink of the WNBA Finals, before finally succumbing to exhaustion in Game 5 against the eventual champion Aces. After recovering from that frightening situation, Mitchell is not only back to 100%, she’s playing the best basketball of her career.

Jessica Shepard, Dallas Wings (1st All-Star selection)

After playing her first five seasons in Minnesota, Shepard signed with Dallas as a free agent this offseason and has put up career-best numbers across the board in her debut season with the Wings: 14.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, five assists, two triple-doubles, 12 double-doubles.

Shepard is the only player to record a triple-double so far this season (she has two, which are also the first two of her career). She also ranks second in both double-doubles and rebounds per game, trailing only Atlanta’s Angel Reese in both categories.

Hall Of Fame Company

Shepard is on pace to join Candace Parker as the only players to average at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists over a WNBA season. Parker accomplished the rare feat in 2015, when she appeared in just 16 games but still finished fifth in MVP voting. Shepard has already maintained those averages through 21 games. If she sustains this all-around mastery for the remainder of the schedule, history awaits.

Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty (8th All-Star selection)

Stewart has been an All-Star staple since she entered the WNBA in 2016 with her eight selections tied for the third-most among active players. The only years she was not an All-Star there was either no game (2016 due to the Olympics, 2020 due to the pandemic) or she was injured (2019 due to an Achilles tear).

This season, Stewart is one of only two players (along with A’ja Wilson) averaging at least 20 points and eight rebounds. She ranks ninth and 11th, respectively with averages of 20.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocks over 20 games.

The Champ Is Here

Stewart has already added to her massive trophy case this season, making history in the process:

The Ultimate Winner: She’s the only player in WNBA history to win the Commissioner’s Cup three times (2021 with Seattle, 2023 and 2026 with New York). Her three Cup titles mirror her three WNBA titles (2018, 2020, 2024).
Clutch MVP: She’s the lone player to win multiple Commissioner’s Cup MVP honors (2021 with Seattle and 2026 with New York). Her two Cup MVPs match her 2 regular season MVPs and WNBA Finals MVPs.

The only major MVP award left to add to her sparkling resume: All-Star Game MVP.

Gabby Williams, Golden State Valkyries (2nd All-Star selection)

In her first season in Golden State, Williams earned her first All-Star start and second overall selection. The 5-foot-11 forward has established herself as one of the top two-way players in the league, averaging a career-best 16 points this season, while remaining one of the game’s top defenders.

Limited Minutes, Maximum Impact

Among the 10 All-Star starters, Williams averages the fewest minutes per game at 26.3, which ranks 46th in the WNBA. However, she ranks 18th in scoring (16.0 points per game), tied for ninth in steals (1.6 per game) and tied for 13th in 3-pointers made (2.0 per game).

Williams is one of only two players (along with Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard) to average at least 15 points, two 3-pointers made and 1.5 steals per game this season. But while Howard leads all WNBA players in floor time (35.2), Williams has hit those marks in just 26.3 minutes per contest.

A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces (8th All-Star selection)

A’ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces

So far, the only thing that has been able to slow down A’ja Wilson is an ankle injury, which has sidelined the four-time MVP, three-time Defensive Player of the Year and three-time WNBA champion for the past three games.

In her 19 games on the court, Wilson’s numbers have been phenomenal: she leads the WNBA in both scoring (25.7 per game) and blocks (2.0 per game) while ranking third in rebounds (9.4 per game). Wilson already boasts a league-high six games with 30 or more points this season — twice as many as any other player in the league this season (four players are tied with three: Breanna Stewart, Brittney Sykes, Kahleah Copper and Marina Mabrey).

Chasing History

At 25.7 points per game, Wilson is on pace to post the second-highest scoring season in WNBA history, trailing only herself in 2024 (26.9 ppg). She would own three of the top 10 individual scoring seasons in league history.

Top Single-Season Scoring Averages (WNBA History):