The WNBA has reworked its All-Star format for the game's 30th season, handing roster control to two of the league's founding legends. The 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game tips off Saturday, July 25, at 8:30 p.m. ET at Chicago's United Center, broadcast on ABC, with Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon serving as general managers who drafted the two sides from the All-Star pool — a departure from the player-captain draft the league had used in recent years.
A new format for the 30th season
Rather than have the top vote-getters pick teams, the league tapped Cooper and Weatherspoon — two stars from the WNBA's earliest years — to build the rosters as honorary GMs. Cheryl Reeve, the Minnesota Lynx head coach, leads Team Spoon on the bench, while Becky Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces coaches Team Coop. Cooper led the Houston Comets to the first four WNBA championships from 1997 to 2000, the same franchise name the league is reviving in Houston after a $300 million sale of the Connecticut Sun.
The rosters
Team Spoon is built around A'ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Olivia Miles. Team Coop counters with Breanna Stewart, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Jackie Young, Kelsey Mitchell, Gabby Williams, and Kahleah Copper. The rosters were seeded by fan, player, and media voting: Wilson led all fan votes with 308,249, Bueckers was second at 298,027, and Clark ranked fifth with 253,602 while leading the league at 8.3 assists per game, per the first returns released in June. Clark was later named a starter alongside Fever teammates Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell. Team Spoon opened as the betting favorite.
The weekend and the stakes
All-Star Weekend runs Thursday through Saturday in Chicago. WNBA Live, the league's fan festival, is at McCormick Place on Thursday and Friday, and Skills Night — the Shooting Stars event and the 3-point contest — is set for Friday, July 24, at 8 p.m. ET at Wintrust Arena. The game caps a milestone year for the league: a new collective bargaining agreement lifted the salary cap from $1.5 million to $7 million, three expansion franchises are on the way by 2030, and the Connecticut Sun sold for a record $300 million. The game returns to Chicago, the country's third-largest media market, after three years away.
Team Spoon went on to beat Team Coop 129-122, with Jonquel Jones named game MVP after posting 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists — the first Liberty player to win the award.
Source: WNBA.com.
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