2022 WNBA All-Star Game: Location, date, rosters, 3-Point Contest, Skills Challenge participants, TV channel
The 2022 WNBA All-Star Game is this weekend at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, home of the 2021 champion Chicago Sky. The All-Star weekend will feature a 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge on Saturday and the All-Star Game on Sunday. The All-Star Game will be broadcast on ABC at 1 p.m. ET Sunday. The two teams are captained by Seattle Storm forward Breanna Stewart and Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson. Here are all the details you need to know.
When is the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game?
The game will be 1 p.m. ET Sunday and will be broadcast on ABC.
Where is the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game?
All-Star weekend is in Chicago for the first time. The game and 3-Point and Skills Challenge will be held at Wintrust Arena where the Sky play.
When are the 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge?
The events leading up to the All-Star Game will be held at 3 p.m. ET Saturday. They will be broadcast on ESPN.
Who are the 2022 WNBA All-Stars?
The two All-Star teams were determined through voting by fans, players and media. Then, the captains, Wilson and Stewart, chose the teams in a draft format from the starters pool and then the reserves pool. Here is how the teams formed.
Team Wilson
Co-captain: Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota
Starters: Candace Parker, Chicago; Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas; Sabrina Ionescu, New York
Reserves: Jewell Loyd, Seattle; Kahleah Copper, Chicago; Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix; Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut; Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas; Emma Meesseman, Chicago
Team Stewart
Co-captain: Sue Bird, Seattle
Starters: Jackie Young, Las Vegas; Jonquel Jones, Connecticut; Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles
Reserves: Rhyne Howard, Atlanta; Dearica Hamby, Las Vegas; Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago; Ariel Atkins, Washington; Brionna Jones, Connecticut; Natasha Howard, New York
Stewart and Wilson swapped co-captains so that Bird was with her Storm teammate and traded Ionescu and Ogwumike.
Rule changes for the WNBA All-Star Game
The WNBA announced on Friday three special rules for Sunday's game.
4-point shot: There will be four circles on the court beyond the 3-point line designated as a 4-point shot area.
20-second shot clock: The shot clock will be 20 seconds instead of the normal 24 seconds.
No free throws: If a player is awarded free throws, those attempts will not happen and instead result in the player being credited with the maximum available points based on the situation. However, during the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and during any overtime periods, players will be required to attempt any free throws awarded.
Who will participate in the 2022 3-Point Contest?
Six players will participate in Saturday’s 3-Point Contest: Allie Quigley (Chicago Sky); Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces); Ariel Atkins (Washington Mystics); Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream); Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm); and Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings)
Who will participate in the 2022 Skills Challenge?
Eight players will participate in Saturday’s Skills Challenge: Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty), Jonquel Jones (Connecticut Sun), Courtney Vandersloot (Chicago Sky), Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream), Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces), Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces), NaLyssa Smith (Indiana Fever) and Azurá Stevens (Chicago Sky).
The Skills Challenge will pair one WNBA player with an athlete from the Elite Youth Basketball League at the 2022 Nike Nationals happening in Chicago this weekend. Teams compete in an obstacle course relay against another team in a three-round bracket.
How will WNBA honor Brittney Griner during All-Star weekend?
Brittney Griner was named an honorary All-Star and starter by commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Griner remains detained in Russia after pleading guilty to drug charges on Thursday.
“During each season of Brittney’s career in which there has been an All-Star Game, she has been selected as an All-Star,” Engelbert said in a statement. “It is not difficult to imagine that if BG were here with us this season, she would once again be selected and would, no doubt, show off her incredible talents. So, it is only fitting that she be named as an honorary starter today and we continue to work on her safe return to the U.S.”
Griner has been selected to seven All-Star games in her career. Team courts have a decal with her initials and number in them and players continue to put a spotlight on what the U.S. government has labeled her "wrongful detainment."