All-Star Weekend Highlights.

Sey
Aug 20, 2024
5 min read

The women in the WNBA, as a whole, have been having a remarkable season for the league. From increasing game attendance, balling like crazy, giving stunning looks in the tunnel, and having memeable moments on and off the court, what's not to love?

#TheMove is the WNBA All-Star weekend!

What better way to celebrate the incredible talent in the WNBA than to showcase the best of the best going head to head? The day started with excitement from the orange carpet and the ladies set the bar high!

It was really hard figure out who my top looks were but I settled on these 5 women being my starting lineup.

First I have Napheesa Collier. She wore a black hoodie dress ensemble with boots and gave off a gothic chic that still exuded sexy.

Next I have Jonquel Jones. The woman has style. Her face was accentuated with a fire half up half down hairdo and she gave “old fashion” a modern twist. The mixture of army colors with the black and red stripe on Jones’ vest surprisingly works very well and was the star to me.

Also on the roster is Diana Taurasi. I loved how effortless her look appeared in yet it was tailored just right and gave the perfect amount of whimsy. She wore an oversized white button up embroidered with an off white heart and black baggy looking slacks.

Next I have Aliyah Boston. Her look was too cute. She strutted the carpet in a red leather ensemble. She even had a leather jacket to pair with her leather crop top and pants. Combined with her curly braid hairdo, she definitely ate her look up.

Last, but certainly not least I would have Aja Wilson. Wilson wore a net dress that screamed elegance and sex appeal all in the same breath. The dress had one across the shoulder strap and fringes towards the ends. It was a 10 out of 10 for sure.

Next was the first event of the night: The Skills challenge.

Contestants in the skills challenge were Brittney Griner (Cen), Allisha Gray (G), Marina Mabrey (G), Erica Wheeler (G), and Sophie Cunningham (G). The crowd was filled with WNBA stars as well as other celebrities for the festivities. There was stiff competition coming out of the gate as Gray (31.2) and Cunningham (35.50) had the top scores for the first round. The two went head to head in another skills challenge where Gray came on top as the Skills Champion!

“It’s amazing [to be playing for this crowd]. The W fans are amazing”, Gray responded to reporter Holly Rowe when asked how it felt to play in front of so many that were supporting her

ree — Allisha Gray, winner of the Skills Challenge

The night wasn’t quite over yet. After the Skills challenge, was the 3x basketball game. This event is unique to the WNBA’s All-Star weekend. The 3x game is a 3 on 3 game with a unique set of rules. There are no coaches, only team fouls as opposed to individual ones are counted, and scoring can only be worth 1 or 2 points. A few other notable rules are players sub themselves, they have a 12 second shot clock, they only play half-court, and the first to 21 or has the most points after 10 minutes win. I’ve personally never heard of this event, but was thrilled to watch 2 teams play a game to 21.

The 2 teams facing head to head were the 3x3 USA team from 2023 vs the 3x3 USA team competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics. The members of the 2023 team were Rhyne Howard, Hailey Van Lith, Dearica Hamby, and Cierra Burdick. The Olympic team consisted of Lucy Olsen, Cotie MacMahon, Christina Dalce, Mikaylah Williams, Morgan Maly, Serah Williams. The Olympic team more than likely had more players to ensure no one is overworked before the big games that were taking place at the end of July.

The game was very quick since the play time shot clock was significantly shorter compared to a regular game. It was cool watching them sub back and forth and compete fiercely against one another. Ultimately, the 2023 3x3 USA team came out on top with 19 points to the 2024’s 3x3 Team’s 15.

The final event for the evening was the 3 point shooting contest. Contestants consisted of Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream), Marina Mabrey (Connecticut Sun), Kayla McBride (Minnesota Lynx), Jonquel Jones(New York Liberty), and Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics). Allisha Gray started the round with a dominating performance of 33 points — achieving the most points scored in the first round by a whopping 8— and was accompanied by Jonquel Jones in the finals.

Jonquel Jones didn’t make it easy, but Allisha Gray came out on top again! Gray managed to best Jones by one point, with a winning score of 22. This was a historical moment for the WNBA All-Star weekend. For the first time, the winner of the Skills Challenge and 3 point shooting contest was the same player. This has truly been a remarkable year for women’s basketball and yet, there was still one big event left for the weekend.

Unlike the NBA All-Star weekend, the WNBA All-Star weekend is 2 days instead of 3. For fans who couldn’t wait for the last event, this is great news. The weekend ended with a 4 quarter game between the 2024 USA Women’s Olympic basketball team and the WNBA all-star team on Saturday, July 20th. This was a match-up highly anticipated for many reasons, one of which was Angel Reese and Caitlyn Clark being teammates after their “rivalry”.

The USA team started out strong, but the WNBA All-Stars quickly caught up to them only trailing by one point at the end of the first quarter thanks to Reese’s last minute bucket. The second quarter proved to be just as exciting. Match-ups like Clark on Diana Taurasi and Kelsey Plum on Arike Ogunbowale kept fans on their toes. Brionna Jones came in clutch for the all-stars hitting a buzzer beating lay-up that had them down by 2 points at halftime.

In the third quarter Ogunbowale was the All-Stars go to player as she scored left and right. She dominated the floor. The fourth quarter was similar with everyone playing their part being led by Ogunbowale. She had 34 points with 2 minutes left in the game. The fourth quarter also featured a pretty special assist from Clark to Reese. Ultimately, the WNBA All-Stars won by 8 points (117-109). These events were more than thrilling to watch and leaves a lot of anticipation for the rest of the season as well as the WNBA playoffs. It's no wonder we dominated in the Olympics. Comment your favorite part of the WNBA All-Star weekend!

Catch y’all at the next move.