Rookie Bueckers, Ogwumike named ASG starters

Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 draft pick by the Dallas Wings, headlines the WNBA All-Star Game starters announced Monday, a group that will join captains Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier in Indianapolis on July 19.

Bueckers will be the sixth No. 1 pick to start the All-Star Game as a rookie, joining Indiana's Clark (2024), Aliyah Boston (2023), Maya Moore (2011), Sue Bird (2002) and Chamique Holdsclaw (1999).

The starters were selected from across the WNBA without regard to conference affiliation. Players and a media panel joined fans in selecting the starters. Fan voting accounted for 50%, and the player and media polling each accounted for 25%.

Bueckers received the sixth-most votes from fans and was second in voting for guards, behind only Clark.

Bueckers, the only first-year All-Star in the starting pool, is ranked 11th in the league in scoring (18.4 points) and sixth in assists (5.8) to lead rookies in both categories. She will be the first rookie to start the All-Star Game in Dallas Wings history. The only other rookies in franchise history selected to the game were Cheryl Ford in 2003 (as the Detroit Shock) and Liz Cambage in 2011 (as the Tulsa Shock).

Also announced as starters Monday were All-Star Game regulars A'ja Wilson of the Aces, the Liberty's Breanna Stewart and Seattle's Nneka Ogwumike. With her 10th All-Star selection, Ogwumike is tied for the third-most All-Star appearances with Tamika Catchings and Brittney Griner. Bird leads all players with 13 selections, followed by Diana Taurasi's 11.

Stewart and Wilson are both appearing in their seventh All-Star Game. Wilson is currently second in the league in scoring average (21.6) and Stewart third (20). Collier, who along with Clark was named a captain Sunday for receiving the most fan votes, leads the league with 24.4 points per game.

Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream and the Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu round out the backcourt selections, alongside Clark and Bueckers. Indiana's Boston and Phoenix's Satou Sabally complete the frontcourt starters.

Boston finished fewer than 1,400 votes behind Minnesota star Collier for second in the fan voting. Though Clark finished first in the fan vote, she was ninth in the players' vote and third in the media voting for guards.

Wilson led all frontcourt players in media and player voting.

Kelsey Mitchell of Indiana and Angel Reese of Chicago just missed making the All-Star starters list, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, at their positions.

Next, 12 reserves will be announced Sunday across WNBA social and digital platforms. These players are selected by the league's head coaches, who will vote for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players of any position. Coaches cannot select players from their own team.

Once the reserves are announced and the entire player pool is decided, Clark and Collier will draft their rosters July 8 at 7 p.m. ET during "WNBA Countdown" ahead of the Liberty's matchup against the Aces on ESPN.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.