The WNBA named its starters for this year’s All-Star game which will take place July 25 in Chicago. Unsurprisingly, Fever superstar Caitlin Clark earned her third All-Star nod in as many seasons. What was surprising, though, is how low she finished in the player vote.
All-Star starters are determined through results from fan, media and player voting. The fan vote accounts for 50% of the result, while the media and player pool makes up 25% of the vote apiece. Clark finished second in fan voting and third in media voting, behind only Paige Bueckers in the fan vote and after Olivia Miles and Bueckers in the media vote. Clark made it as an All-Star starter safely, but she finished as the 11th guard in the player vote—a shockingly low finish amongst her peers.
That’s similar to last year’s vote where Clark was an All-Star starter as she was the top guard in the fan vote, third in the media vote, but only ninth in the player vote. She couldn’t compete in All-Star festivities last year at her home building in Indianapolis due to a groin injury which kept her out of the rest of the season.
The Fever made a run to the WNBA semifinals anyway and had the Aces on the brink of elimination as the franchise hoped that Clark’s return this year could get it over the hump to compete for a title. She quickly got back to her usual self once she was back on the court this year as she’s put forth incredible scoring performances while making plays for her teammates as one of the best players in the league.
So, what gives? We can’t know what went into each player’s vote but we can dive into the numbers which certainly show that Clark is a well-deserved All-Star once again.
A look at Caitlin Clark’s All-Star case
It’s early, but Clark is in the midst of her best WNBA season yet. Her 21.2 points per game are a career-high while she is second in the league in assists per game (8.2) behind only Alyssa Thomas. Although it doesn’t necessarily matter that she finished so low in the player All-Star vote since she made the field comfortably anyway, it is interesting that she finished outside of the top-10 when she’s clearly been one of the best guards across the league this season.
Here’s a look at her numbers thus far and how she stacks up against the competition:
| Stat | Caitlin Clark’s number | WNBA rank | Rank amongst guards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points per game | 21.2 | 4th | T-3rd |
| Assists per game | 8.2 | 2nd | 1st |
| Rebounds per game | 4.0 | T-39th | 9th |
| Three-pointers per game | 2.6 | T-3rd | T-3rd |
The one slight against Clark’s case is the high number of turnovers—she leads the WNBA with 4.6 per game—but turnovers are a given with how much she has the ball in her hands and how much defensive pressure is sent her way. Plus, she’s actually limited the turnovers this season compared to her first two years in the league.
That’s a problem, but it shouldn’t be enough to knock Clark out of the top-10 guards in the league. At the end of the day, she’s still an All-Star and the numbers show that she should be.
Caitlin Clarks joins a stacked list of WNBA All-Star starters
On Thursday, the league announced the 10 starters for the 2026 All-Star Game which will take place at the end of the month in Chicago. The four guards and six frontcourt players who finished atop voting results were named starters, while the remaining 12 All-Stars will be chosen by the league’s head coaches who are not able to vote for their own players. The 12 reserves will be made up of three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference.
Here are the players who were named All-Star starters along with Clark:
| Player | Team | Position | All-Star appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caitlin Clark | Indiana Fever | Guard | 3rd |
| Paige Bueckers | Dallas Wings | Guard | 2nd |
| Olivia Miles | Minnesota Lynx | Guard | 1st |
| Kelsey Mitchell | Indiana Fever | Guard | 4th |
| A’ja Wilson | Las Vegas Aces | Frontcourt | 8th |
| Breanna Stewart | New York Liberty | Frontcourt | 8th |
| Jessica Shepard | Dallas Wings | Frontcourt | 1st |
| Aliyah Boston | Indiana Fever | Frontcourt | 4th |
| Gabby Williams | Golden State Valkyries | Frontcourt | 2nd |
| Natasha Howard | Minnesota Lynx | Frontcourt | 3rd |
One notable snub from the starters group is Angel Reese, who finished sixth in the fan, player and media vote which left her weighted rank as seventh among the frontcourt group. She’ll almost certainly get in as a reserve when the head coaches make their selections, but she just missed the cut to become an All-Star starter in her first season with the Dream.
