Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark is a first-team All-WNBA selection
Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark added another accolade to her standout rookie season as a first-team All-WNBA selection, the league announced Wednesday. Las Vegas Aces forward A'ja Wilson and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier are unanimous selections for the first team.
New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas round out the positionless five-person first team. The top five All-WNBA point earners finished in the exact order of the Most Valuable Player vote won by Wilson.
Clark is the first rookie since Candace Parker with Los Angeles in 2008 to earn first-team honors. The Rookie of the Year is the fifth rookie to be honored since 2000, joining Sue Bird (Seattle, 2002), Tamika Catchings (Indiana, 2002) and Diana Taurasi (Phoenix, 2004). Clark earned 52 first-team votes from a national panel of 67 sportswriters and broadcasters. She was left off of one ballot.
The Liberty led all teams with three overall selections, and no other team had more than one.
All-WNBA votes follow MVP order
Wilson, who earned MVP in unanimous fashion, and Collier, the Defensive Player of the Year, were on every first-place ballot and earned 335 total points (five points for first-team, three for second-team). Wilson averaged a league-record 26.9 points per game and led the league with 2.58 blocks. She finished second in rebounding (11.9 per game). Collier averaged 20.4 ppg, 9.7 rpg and 1.91 spg and could have drawn top MVP votes.
It is Wilson’s third consecutive season as a first-team player and fourth overall. Collier is a three-time All-WNBA selection and two-time first-teamer. She led the Minnesota Lynx to their first Finals since their dynasty era ended in 2017.
Stewart (331 points) fell two first-place votes shy of unanimous honors, averaging a packed line of 20.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.68 spg and 1.26 bpg. The former two-time MVP has missed All-WNBA honors only once. It’s her sixth first-team honor in seven selections.
Clark (302 points) averaged a league-high 8.4 assists per game in addition to 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Her 122 3-pointers led the league and rank second all time in a regular season. She led the Fever back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and broke records on the regular in her debut season.
Thomas (255 points) was left off eight ballots and had 39 first-place votes. It’s her second honor. She averaged the second-most assists (7.9) and again led the league in triple-doubles with three, which took her career total to 11. All five players led their teams to the postseason.
Sabrina Ionescu headlines All-WNBA second team
Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu came in sixth, falling out of first-place honors with 15 first-place and 43 second-team votes (204 points). Ionescu’s shooting clip dipped after the All-Star/Olympic break. She also dealt with a neck issue that slowed her. It is the 2020 No. 1 overall pick’s third consecutive season on the second team.
Kahleah Copper (Mercury, 167 points), Nneka Ogwumike (Storm, 154 points), Arike Ogunbowale (Wings, 107 points) and Jonquel Jones (Liberty, 102 points) round out the second team. It’s the first All-WNBA honor for Copper, the seventh overall pick in 2016 who climbed her way from the bench to 2021 Finals MVP to a starting role and Olympic gold. Ogwumike is on her seventh All-WNBA team, Jones on her fifth and Ogunbowale on her third.
Clark, Ionescu and Ogunbowale are the only true guards who earned enough votes of the 10 selected. Copper is listed as a guard-forward. The league and voters often favor forwards for postseason honors and ballots are due the morning after the last day of the regular season, so Ionescu’s playoff performances were not taken into account.
Each member of the All-WNBA first team receives a $10,300 bonus to salaries that max out at around $240,000. Second-team winners receive $5,150.
