Stats to Know: AT&T WNBA All-Star 2021 – USA Women’s National Team


AT&T WNBA All-Star 2021 is less than a week away and will serve as a great test for the USA Women’s National Team before they pursue their seventh straight Olympic gold medal in Tokyo. To get ready for All-Star, we’ll break down each player from Team USA and Team WNBA with two key stats, from the WNBA stats site with insights from SAP, to know about their game. We begin with the team that will represent the USA in the Olympics.

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Note: All stats below are for games played through July 8, 2021.

Ariel Atkins, Mystics (named to first All-Star Game)

• Ranks ninth in the WNBA in steals (1.4 per game) and leads the league in points off turnovers (5.3 per game).

• Tied for the most deep 3-point shots (from 25-29 feet from the basket) with 22 FGM in 48 attempts (45.8%). She’s also second in the league in fourth-quarter scoring (5.4 ppg).

Sue Bird, Storm (named to record 12th All-Star Game)

• Needs just four assists to become the first player in WNBA history to reach 3,000 for her career. Bird already leads all players in WNBA history by nearly 400 career assists.

• Ranks fourth in the WNBA in assists per game (5.7) and first in assist/turnover ratio (3.60).

Tina Charles, Mystics (8th All-Star Game)

• Leads the WNBA in scoring at 25.8 points per game, which is on pace to be the highest scoring average in league history.

• There have been 22 30-point performances in the WNBA through July 8. Tina Charles has seven of those games, while no other player has more than two; Breanna Stewart and Brittney Griner are the only other players with multiple 30-point games with two apiece.

Napheesa Collier, Lynx (2nd All-Star Game)

• Is the only player in the WNBA to rank in the top 20 in all five major statistical categories: 11th in scoring, 14th in rebounding, 19th in assists, 13th in steals and ninth in blocks.

• Logged a WNBA season-high 44 minutes in Minnesota’s overtime win over Las Vegas on June 25 as she fell just two assists shy of her first career triple-double (23 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk).

Skylar Diggins-Smith, Mercury (5th All-Star Game)

• On July 3, she became the 21st player in WNBA history to have at least 3,000 career points and 1,000 career assists. And of the players on that list, she’s the fastest to get there while also racking up 200 steals.

• She is one of only two players – along with New York’s Betnijah Laney to average at least 15 points and five assists this season. The two are also tied for fifth in clutch scoring with 31 points; Diggins-Smith shoots a higher percentage from the field (47.1%).

Sylvia Fowles, Lynx (7th All-Star Game)

• Leads the WNBA with 85 baskets inside the restricted area. Fowles is shooting 72.6% at the basket this season, which ranks seventh among the 65 players with at least 25 attempts.

• In addition to leading the WNBA in field goal percentage this season (61.2%), Fowles is the WNBA’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (59.4%), 3.4 percentage points higher than any other player in league history. Fowles is also the league’s all-time leader in rebounds (3,571).

Chelsea Gray, Aces (4th All-Star Game)

• Ranks second in the WNBA in assists at 6.4 per game, which also mark a career-best average for the seventh-year pro, who is now in her first season in Las Vegas.

• Leads the WNBA in first-quarter assists (2.6 per game) as the Aces average a league-best 23.5 points in the opening quarter.

Brittney Griner, Mercury (7th All-Star Game)

• Leads the league in blocked shots (2.1 per game) so far this season. She led the league in blocks in each of her first seven seasons, a streak that ended last year when Griner only played 12 games. If she leads the league in 2021, she would tie Margo Dydek for the most seasons as the blocks leader with eight.

• Has recorded two dunks this season to bring her career total to 14 dunks in regular season games.

Jewell Loyd, Storm (3rd All-Star Game)

• Leads the WNBA with eight corner 3-pointers made; she is shooting 8-14 (57.1%) from the corners and 37.1% overall from beyond the arc (25th in WNBA).

• Leads all players in third-quarter scoring at 6.2 points per game on 49.4% shooting from the field, 35.5% from 3-point range and 95% from the free throw line.

Breanna Stewart, Storm (3rd All-Star Game)

• Leads the WNBA in clutch scoring with 45 points in 53 minutes. Stewart is shooting 46.9% (15-32) from the field and 92.9% (13-14) at the free throw line when the game is within five points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.

• Has the two highest-scoring games of the WNBA season: 36 points in a win at Dallas on May 22 and 35 points in a loss at Las Vegas on June 26.

Diana Taurasi, Mercury (10th All-Star Game)

• On June 28, became the first player in WNBA history to reach 9,000 career points. The all-time leading scorer in league history, Taurasi has scored more than 1,5000 more points than any other WNBA player (Tina Thompson is second at 7,488) and more than 2,500 more points than any active player (Sue Bird is sixth at 6,467).

• Needs 19 assists to become the fifth player to ever reach 2,000 career assists. Taurasi is already the only player to rank in the top five in both scoring and assists.

A’ja Wilson, Aces (3rd All-Star Game)

• Leads the WNBA in free throws made (113), free throws attempted (124) and ranks sixth in free throw percentage (91.1%).

• The reigning MVP ranks fifth in scoring (19.6), sixth in rebounding (9.0) and is tied for the league lead in double-doubles (9) along with fellow Olympians Breanna Stewart and Brittney Griner.