WNBA All-Star Weekend Pays Tribute To The Greats
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) orbited around Chicago, as All-Star weekend brought a combination of fun and history to a short mid-season break.
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Team Wilson took the win in a 134-112 rout that saw dunks, dimes, and appearances by WNBA stars young and old.
Kelsey Plum won All-Star MVP with a record-tying 30-point performance, but the game also centered on the final appearances of retiring stars Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird.
Fowles scored the first bucket of the game from behind the arc, only the second 3-point shot of her career. She also dunked later in the game.
Bird ended the night with six assists, receiving a standing ovation upon her final exit from the game.
The game also gave the league an opportunity to showcase the established and upcoming stars ready to take the baton from retiring veterans.
Rookie Rhyne Howard finished the game with 13 points, after participating in the skills challenge and 3-point contest on Saturday.
Sabrina Ionescu, who won the skills competition, scored 19 points for Team Wilson.
Jonquel Jones trailed only Plum in points, contributing 29 to go along with 13 rebounds and five assists.
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As entertaining as the game proved to be, some frustrations with the execution of the weekend boiled over in other ways.
Fans weren’t allowed into the skills or 3-point competition, which were held in a non-arena venue at Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center.
Other events were only accessible to certain VIPs, including a Chance the Rapper concert that commissioner Cathy Englebert said was closed off to the public due to “concern about outdoor events right now, unfortunately, in our country.”
It’s because the All-Star Game is so much fun that fans continually push for the event to be more accessible and expansive. The skills competition and game itself were fantastic showcases for league talent, and it would benefit the WNBA to spend more time creating a great experience for everybody.
Meanwhile…
Before the All-Star Game on Sunday, the WNBA took the time to crown a few specialty artists.
Sabrina Ionescu won the skills competition, an event that included a few top high school prospects.
Ionescu became the first New York Liberty player to win the challenge, while Chicago’s own Allie Quigley made history.
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The 36-year-old accepted an invitation to the 3-point contest, after swearing on her retirement after her third victory last year.
Quigley had intended for the win in Las Vegas to be her last, but the fact the game was being hosted in her hometown swayed her into competing one last time.
With wife and All-Star point guard Courtney Vandersloot watching alongside teammate Candace Parker, Quigley advanced to the final round after a slow start.
Las Vegas’ Kelsey Plum, Seattle’s Jewell Loyd, and Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale were eliminated after the opening round.
Competing against Rhyne Howard and Ariel Atkins in Round 2, Quigley caught fire.
She clinched her fourth title even before she hit her final rack of balls, finishing with a field-wiping 30 points.
Parker made her allegiances known early, donning Quigley’s DePaul jersey before the contest even began.
With the win, Quigley became the only professional men’s or women’s basketball player with four wins in the contest.
“I am a witness to it. She can shoot,” Parker told ESPN ahead of the competition. “It’s Allie, she focuses, she puts the time in. She is one of the best shooters ever, male or female. She is going to prove it today.”
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