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 Las Vegas Aces

Aces Wilson, McBride Named to 2018 WNBA All-Star Team

July 17, 2018 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Las Vegas Aces News Release


NEW YORK, NY (July 17, 2018)- The WNBA announced today that the Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson and Kayla McBride are among the 22 players selected by fans, WNBA players and head coaches, and media for Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018.

Washington Mystics forward/guard Elena Delle Donne and Los Angeles Sparks forward/center Candace Parker will serve as team captains and draft the rosters for the 15th WNBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Saturday, July 28 at Target Center in Minneapolis. ABC will televise the game live at 12:30 pm PT.

A'ja Wilson

Wilson is the leading Rookie of the Year candidate and a top Most Valuable Player candidate in her first year in the WNBA. She ranks seventh in the league in scoring (19.9), third in rebounding (8.7), and sixth in blocked shots (1.78). The South Carolina graduate was named WNBA Rookie of the Month for June, and Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from July 2-8. She is the only rookie who was selected to play in this year's All-Star Game.

Kayla McBride

McBride is making her second All-Star appearance in five years, having represented the San Antonio Stars in her second year in the league back in 2015. This season, McBride is eighth in the league in scoring (19.1), 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.407), fifth in free throw percentage (.904), and fifth in minutes played (32.8).

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The rosters for the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game will be revealed on Thursday, July 19 at the start of ESPN2's telecast of a game between Washington and the Dallas Wings (5 pm PT tipoff). On Friday, July 27, the All-Star team captains and head coaches will meet to determine the starting lineups. The starters will be revealed that night on ESPN2 (4 pm) during a live telecast of the WNBA All-Star Welcome Reception in Minnesota. Seattle head coach Dan Hughes will lead Team Delle Donne, while Phoenix head coach Sandy Brondello will guide Team Parker.

For the first time, All-Stars were selected without regard for conference affiliation. Fans accounted for 40 percent of the vote, while current players, current head coaches and a media panel accounted for 20 percent each. Players were not allowed to vote for their teammates. Head coaches could not vote for players on their own team.

Moore was the leading vote-getter among fans (47,620) in WNBA All-Star Voting 2018 presented by Verizon. She was followed by Delle Donne (42,171), Parker (38,575), Bird (37,098) and Taurasi (35,687). Fans cast 44 percent more votes than they did last year (873,437 vs. 604,680).

After all votes were tallied, players were ranked by position (guard and frontcourt) within each voting group - fan votes, player votes, coach votes and media votes. Each player's score was calculated by averaging her weighted rank applied to the respective voting groups. The nine guards and 13 frontcourt players with the best scores were named to compete in Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018.

2018 WNBA ALL-STARS BY POSITION

Guards

Seimone Augustus, Lynx (8th All-Star selection): This is the sixth consecutive All-Star nod for Augustus, who has earned all eight of her selections as a member of the Lynx.

Sue Bird, Storm (11th All-Star selection): Bird, the WNBA's career assists leader and Seattle's career points leader, has played the second-most games (497) in league history and is poised to surpass DeLisha Milton-Jones (499) as the all-time leader in that category.

Skylar Diggins-Smith, Wings (4th All-Star selection): Selected to the All-Star Game every year except her rookie season, Diggins-Smith will appear in Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018 alongside Delle Donne and Mercury center Brittney Griner, fellow members of the famed "Three to See" WNBA Draft class of 2013.

Chelsea Gray, Sparks (2nd All-Star selection): Gray, who helped lead the Sparks to the last two WNBA Finals, is an All-Star for the second year in a row.

Jewell Loyd, Storm (1st All-Star selection): The 2015 WNBA Rookie of the Year is one of two first-time All-Star selections this year, joining Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson.

Kayla McBride, Aces (2nd All-Star selection): McBride returns to the All-Star Game after a previous appearance in 2015, her second WNBA season.

Allie Quigley, Sky (2nd All-Star selection): An All-Star for the second year in a row, the two-time WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year (2014 and 2015) won the Three-Point Contest at halftime of last year's All-Star Game in Seattle.

Diana Taurasi, Mercury (9th All-Star selection): Taurasi has been a starter in each of her eight previous All-Star Games.

Kristi Toliver, Mystics (2nd All-Star selection): An All-Star for the first time as a member of the Mystics, Toliver represented the Sparks in the 2013 All-Star Game.

Frontcourt

DeWanna Bonner, Mercury (2nd All-Star selection): Bonner, who sat out the 2017 season while pregnant with twins, was also an All-Star in 2015.

Liz Cambage, Wings (2nd All-Star selection): After a four-year absence from the WNBA, the Australian native is an All-Star for the first time since 2011. Today, she scored a WNBA-record 53 points to go with 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in Dallas' 104-87 home victory over New York.

Tina Charles, Liberty (6th All-Star selection): Charles has been voted to each All-Star Game played during her career, and she was a starter in 2011, 2015 and 2017.

Elena Delle Donne, Mystics (5th All-Star selection): Delle Donne has been selected to each All-Star Game played in her career, including three as a member of the Chicago Sky and the last two as a member of the Mystics. She recently became the fastest WNBA player to 3,000 points (148 games).

Brittney Griner, Mercury (5th All-Star selection): The WNBA's second-leading scorer (20.7 ppg) and top shot-blocker (2.91 bpg) has been named to each All-Star Game played in her career.

Sylvia Fowles, Lynx (5th All-Star selection): The reigning regular-season and Finals MVP was voted to her second straight All-Star Game as a member of the Lynx. She previously represented the Sky three times.

Angel McCoughtry, Dream (5th All-Star selection): Atlanta's career leader in games, points, field goals, assists and steals has started the All-Star Game four times.

Maya Moore, Lynx, (6th All-Star selection): The MVP of the last two WNBA All-Star Games (2015, 2017), Moore is the All-Star Game record-holder for career scoring average (20.2 ppg) and points in a game (30 in 2015).

Chiney Ogwumike, Sun (2nd All-Star selection): An All-Star as a rookie in 2014, Ogwumike returns to the All-Star Game after missing two of the previous three seasons due to injury.

Nneka Ogwumike, Sparks (5th All-Star selection): Selected to every All-Star Game played during her career, Nneka and her sister Chiney are the only siblings to play in the WNBA All-Star Game.

Candace Parker, Sparks (5th All-Star selection): Parker is one of three players in WNBA history to earn regular-season MVP, Finals MVP and All-Star Game MVP honors, joining Moore and Lisa Leslie.

Breanna Stewart, Storm (2nd All-Star selection): The fastest player in WNBA history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds (55 games), Stewart is an All-Star for the second consecutive year.

A'ja Wilson, Aces (1st All-Star selection): The only current rookie selected to the All-Star Game, Wilson is one of 11 No. 1 overall draft picks set to compete in Minneapolis. The others are Augustus, Charles, Loyd, McCoughtry, Moore, Chiney Ogwumike, Nneka Ogwumike, Parker, Stewart and Taurasi.


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