Everything you need to know about the WNBA’s All-Star Weekend

🏀 Before we get to the action, let’s discuss how we got here. Ten WNBA All-Star starters were selected by a mix of 50% fan, 25% player, and 25% media vote. Twelve additional reserves (aka substitute players) were then chosen by the league’s 13 head coaches who notably couldn’t vote for their own players. Fair is fair.

• Last year’s MVP runner-up, Minnesota Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier, and reigning Rookie of the Year, Indiana Fever icon Caitlin Clark, received the highest fan vote totals, earning them All-Star captain honors for the first time in their respective careers.

📋 From there, Collier and Clark each drafted from the player pool (first starters, then reserves) regardless of conference, meaning tomorrow’s squads include a mix of hoopers from the East and the West.

👀 But the court isn’t the only place to keep an eye on this weekend: It’s no secret that Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations between the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players’ Association (WNBPA) are off to a rough start.

• The two entities had their first face-to-face meeting since December yesterday — and it was anything but transformational. After the league’s initial proposal fell flat, the most recent talks once again came up short according to the WNBPA, who were repped by the largest player turnout in W history.

• Negotiations will undoubtedly loom large over this weekend’s festivities as players haven’t ruled out a work stoppage should the league and WNBPA not reach a consensus before the current CBA expires at the end of the season. Stay tuned.

✨ WNBA Live — Today and tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. ET — Indiana Convention Center

• A two-day fan festival celebrating the intersection of women’s basketball, music, fashion, and culture? Yes, please. With 25 fan-first activations, including everything from athlete meet-and-greets to custom merchandise, WNBA Live is bringing the heat to Indiana.

🎤 Fever Fest — Tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET — Everwise Amphitheater

• Catch us refreshing social media for highlights with fan favorite, Indiana Fever guard Sydney Colson set to make her stand-up comedy debut.

🏀 The Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest — Tonight at 8 p.m. ET — ESPN

• The reigning champ in both events, Atlanta Dream standout Allisha Gray, is hoping to repeat last year’s double coronation, but it won’t be easy: The Skills Challenge field includes the NY Liberty’s Natasha Cloud and the Seattle Storm’s Skylar Diggins, while the 3-Point Contest boasts seafoam superstar Sabrina Ionescu and LA Spark Kelsey Plum.

⭐ The WNBA’s 21st All-Star Game — Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET — ABC

• It’s the main event: Team Collier and Team Clark, captained by the sadly sidelined Fever icon, will go head-to-head for pride, some cash, and the opportunity to secure an additional $5K check as the game MVP.

✨ WNBA Live — Today and tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. ET — Indiana Convention Center

• A two-day fan festival celebrating the intersection of women’s basketball, music, fashion, and culture? Yes, please. With 25 fan-first activations, including everything from athlete meet-and-greets to custom merchandise, WNBA Live is bringing the heat to Indiana.

🎤 Fever Fest — Tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET — Everwise Amphitheater

• Catch us refreshing social media for highlights with fan favorite, Indiana Fever guard Sydney Colson set to make her stand-up comedy debut.

🏀 The Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest — Tonight at 8 p.m. ET — TSN

• The reigning champ in both events, Atlanta Dream standout Allisha Gray, is hoping to repeat last year’s double coronation, but it won’t be easy: The Skills Challenge field includes the NY Liberty’s Natasha Cloud and the Seattle Storm’s Skylar Diggins, while the 3-Point Contest boasts seafoam superstar Sabrina Ionescu and LA Spark Kelsey Plum.

⭐ The WNBA’s 21st All-Star Game — Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET — TSN

• It’s the main event: Team Collier and Team Clark, captained by the sadly sidelined Fever icon, will go head-to-head for pride, some cash, and the opportunity to secure an additional $5K check as the game MVP.

✨ The show before the show, tonight’s events — the Skills Challenge and the 3-Point Contest — are star-studded. And rightly so, with over $120K up for grabs between the two competitions. Cha-ching.

👏 The Skills Challenge is a timed obstacle course where competitors dribble, pass, and shoot their way around the court. The two players who record the fastest opening round times will advance to a final, winner-takes-all showdown. Spicy.

• Aside from Gray, three of the top five assist leaders in the W — Cloud, Diggins, and Minnesota Lynx Courtney Williams — will compete, while the Storm’s Erica Wheeler will be trying to make up for lost time. In a field this fast, blink and you’ll miss ’em.

👌 Then, there’s the 3-Point Contest, a two-round event where players shoot three-pointers from seven different spots on the court. There’s five main shooting locations each with five balls (worth one point) plus two long-range shots (three points).

• A fun twist? The two-point money ball: Each rack has one, but players also get to choose one rack where all five are money balls. Decisions decisions.

• The safest pick to win is probably Ionescu, the three-point competition record holder. In 2023, she knocked down 37 of 40 shots to win the event handily — literally nothing but net.

Now it’s onto the main event: the 21st annual All-Star Game (ASG). Most of the game will look familiar — it’s still basketball after all — but there are four special ASG rules to keep tabs on tomorrow:

4️⃣ The 4-Point Shot: After its 2022 ASG debut, the league is bringing back the four-pointer. Buckets will be worth four points if a player shoots from one of four circles on the court, circles that sit six feet behind the traditional three-point arc. Long range just got longer.

⏱️ A 20-second shot clock: Usually 24 seconds, the four second difference might not seem like a lot, but it’ll change the complexion of the game by increasing the pace of play. All-Star games are often fast and furious, but this returning rule ensures speed all game long.

🚨 Automatic points for foul shots: To keep things moving, the W is once again cutting out foul shots in the first 38 minutes of the 40-minute game. Players will automatically be credited with the maximum number of points they could tally at the line on each particular play.

↔️ Live-play substitutions: The WNBA took some inspo from hockey, integrating on-the-fly substitutions (aka swapping players while the game is ongoing) for the first time in pro hoops history. There are stipulations though: Teams can only substitute when they’re on offense and when the ball is in their defensive half.