Update (July 22): This page has been updated to add Napheesa Collier, who was named as an injury replacement for captain A’ja Wilson by WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Collier’s stats are through games played on July 22, the day she was named as a replacement.
The reserves for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2019 were announced on Monday as 12 players – six guards and six frontcourt – were added to the 10 starters to make up that 22-player pool from which team captains Elena Delle Donne and A’ja Wilson will select their teams.
After breaking down the starters earlier this week, now we dig into the numbers behind the reserves to see what made these players stand out and earn the votes of the league’s head coaches.
Note: All stats are from games played through July 14, the final day of games before the reserves were announced. Players are presented in alphabetical order.
DeWanna Bonner, Phoenix Mercury (3rd selection)
- Bonner leads the WNBA in scoring at 19.4 points per game. This is Bonner’s highest scoring season since 2012 when she averaged 20.6 points as the runner up to Angel McCoughtry for the WNBA scoring title.
- There have been 43 25-point games across the WNBA this season; Bonner leads all players with five of those games, narrowly edging out her Mercury teammate (and All-Star starter) Brittney Griner, who has four such games. The Mercury duo is followed by a Liberty duo as All-Stars Kia Nurse and Tina Charles both have three games with at least 25 points this season. Every player with multiple 25-point games earned an All-Star selection as A’ja Wilson, Diamond DeShields, Erica Wheeler, Jonquel Jones and Odyssey Sims each had two such games.
Tina Charles, New York Liberty (7th selection)
- Charles leads the WNBA in usage rate (min. 10 games played) at 31.1%, nearly three percentage points higher than second-ranked Natasha Howard (28.2%)
- There have been 19 games this season in which a player scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Charles leads the way with three of those games, while fellow All-Stars Nneka Ogwumike, Elena Delle Donne, Brittney Griner and A’ja Wilson each have two such games.
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx (1st Selection, Replacement for Injured A’ja Wilson)
- Collier, the sixth pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft, ranks third among rookies in scoring (11.0 ppg), second in rebounds (5.9 rpg) and blocks (1.0 bpg); she leads all rookies and ranks third in the WNBA in steals (1.9 spg). Collier also ranks eighth in the WNBA in defensive win shares (0.166).
- Collier leads the Lynx in on-court and off-court plus/minus. The Lynx have outscored their opponents by 57 points in Collier’s 617 minutes on court. The Lynx have been outscored by their opponents by 28 points in Colliers 143 minutes off the court.
Diamond DeShields, Chicago Sky (1st selection)
- DeShields leads the WNBA in total corner 3-pointers made (8) and attempted (20) so far this season. She is shooting 40% from the corners, but does most of her damage from the left corner (6-14, 42.9%).
- DeShields leads the WNBA in fast break points at 3.0 per game, helping the Sky rank third in the league at 10.9 fast break points per game.
Candice Dupree, Indiana Fever (7th selection)
- Dupree recently passed Lisa Leslie for sixth place on the all-time scoring list at 6,267 career points. Dupree also ranks eighth all-time in rebounds at 2,880. She needs 120 rebounds to become just the fourth player in league history with 6,000 points and 3,000 rebounds.
- Dupree has made a league-high 52 mid-range field goals this season – 22 more than any other player in the WNBA. She leads the league in mid-range field goal attempts (126) – one of only two players with at least 100 attempts.
Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota Lynx (6th selection)
- Fowles leads the WNBA in double-doubles this season with nine in 17 games played and recently passed Lisa Leslie for most career double-doubles with 158. She is also just 106 rebounds shy of passing Leslie (3,306) for third place in career rebounding.
- Fowles leads the WNBA in field goals made (76) and attempted (109) in the restricted area. Her 69.7% shooting in the restricted area ranks second to Liz Cambage (70.4%) among players with at least 50 attempts.
Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks (6th selection)
- There are nine players in the WNBA averaging at least 15 points and 5 rebounds – all of which are All-Stars. Ogwumike leads that group in 3-point percentage (39.5%), ranks second in rebounding (9.5) and steals (1.9), third in free throw percentage (81.0%) and fifth in field goal percentage (45.8%).
- Ogwumike ranks third in the WNBA in rebounding this season with a career-best 9.5 rebounds per game. The only other time Ogwumike averaged at least eight rebounds per game was her MVP season in 2016.
Allie Quigley, Chicago Sky (3rd selection)
- The reigning Three-Point Shooting Contest winner leads the WNBA in 3-pointers made (45) while ranking sixth in 3-pointers attempted (93). Quigley ranks second in WNBA in 3-point percentage (48.4%) overall and first among the 30 high-volume 3-point shooters with at least 50 attempts so far this season
- Quigley leads the WNBA in effective field goal percentage (63.7%) with a 2.7 percentage point lead over Sky teammate Stefanie Dolson – they are the only two WNBA players with an eFG% north of 60 percent.
Odyssey Sims, Minnesota Lynx (1st selection)
- Sims is the only player to rank in the top 10 in both scoring and assists this season. No other player is averaging at least 15 points and five assists in 2019 and only two players put together those averages last season – Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi.
- Sims ranks second in fast break points (2.6 per game) and fourth in points off turnovers (3.8).
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun (2nd selection)
- Thomas is one of 11 players to average at least 11 points and seven rebounds this season – all but one of that group was named an All-Star (Chiney Ogwumike). Thomas leads that group in both assists (3.1) and steals (2.0).
- Thomas is tied with fellow All-Star Natasha Howard for third in the WNBA in steals per game (2.0).
Kristi Toliver, Washington Mystics (3rd selection)
- Toliver has the highest individual offensive rating in the WNBA (111.0 points per 100 possessions), topping Mystics teammate and All-Star captain Elena Delle Donne by 1.3 points.
- Toliver ranks second in the WNBA in assists per game with a career-best 5.7 per game. Her 2.58 assist/turnover ratio ranks sixth in the league overall (min 10 games played).
Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago Sky (2nd selection)
- There have been 12 games this season in which a player has dished out at least 10 assists – Vandersloot accounts for a third of them with four such games. New York’s Brittany Body is the only other player with multiple 10+ assist games this season.
- Vandersloot has the lowest scoring average of any All-Star in 2019 – she ranks 40th in the league at 9.7 points per game. Note: Jewell Loyd is not listed among the official league leaders since she has not met the games played requirement due to injury; had she been eligible, she would be tied for seventh.
Erica Wheeler, Indiana Fever (1st selection)
- Wheeler ranks second in the WNBA in assist percentage at 37.6%, trailing only fellow All-Star reserve Courtney Vandersloot (40.6%).
- Wheeler is tied for sixth in the WNBA in 3-point accuracy (40.0%) as she has made 26 of 65 attempts so far this season.