The WNBA will deliver plenty of star power at its 2025 All-Star Game Saturday night in Indianapolis, with multiple league champions and former Most Valuable Players on display. And don’t be surprised if Angel Reese shines on Caitlin Clark’s home court.
Ms. Clark won’t be suiting up after re-aggravating a groin injury, a huge disappointment to local Indiana Fever fans and the league as a whole. But Ms. Reese, a competitive rival of Ms. Clark’s since their college days, will make her second straight All-Star appearance, silencing skeptics and doubters, including those who once laughed at her height.
“Back in the day when we were in school, the men laughed at us,” Ms. Reese said. “Look at them now. They’re all gagging right now.”
Gagging, in today’s slang, means “intensely impressed,” and that describes many who have been watching Ms. Reese this season. She has averaged 14 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists this season, and recently recorded her first triple-double in leading the Chicago Sky to a decisive 78-66 win against the Connecticut Sun.
Ms. Reese and Ms. Clark have been cast as rivals since their collegiate days. Ms. Reese’s LSU team defeated Ms. Clark’s Iowa team in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Championship Game but bowed to Iowa in the 2024 semifinals. Both women say there is no animosity between them, but their relationship remains fodder for social media drama.
It has gotten to the point where NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal threatened to punch former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III in the face for continuing to insist on posts and podcasts that Ms. Reese hates Ms. Clark.
“Just leave my Angel Reese alone,” Mr. O’Neal warned. “I’m the one calling her and telling her not to respond. Stop it. That’s the last time, OK? Thank you.”
It will be interesting to see the reception Ms. Reese receives from what figures to be a partisan Indiana Fever crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Ms. Clark and Naphessa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx were the top vote-getters and drafted their teams for the game, set for 8:30 p.m. on ABC.
Ms. Reese will play on Team Collier along with Breanna Stewart, Allisha Gray, Nneka Ogwumike, Courtney Williams, Skylar Diggins, Alyssa Thomas, Kayla McBridge, Kelsey Plum and rookie sensation Paige Bueckers.
Team Clark counters with Aliyah Boston, Sabriina Ionescu, A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Mitchell, Gabby Williams, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Jackie Young, Kayla Thornton, Brittney Sykes and Brionna Jones. Ms. Sykes and Ms. Jones were named as replacements for the injured Ms. Clark and Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally.
While the game will showcase the current talent in the WNBA, an important step in formatting its future took place on Thursday when more than 40 members of the WNBA players association, including Ms. Clark and Ms. Bueckers, met with the league to continue negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. It was the largest in-person player turnout in history, according to the player’s union.
Central to the discussion is compensation. The rookie annual salary stands around $76,000 while the maximum is $249,244. With record viewership, surging ticket sales, a new $2 billion media rights deal, and expansion plans, players want “a rightful share of the business that we’ve built,” according to a union release.
Players are also concerned about game scheduling, health benefits, contract guarantees, improved facilities, roster limits, and pension/retirement funding.
Ms. Stewart of the defending champion New York Liberty went into the meeting feeling that the players’ initial proposals had been largely ignored. “Anytime you go back-and-forth, you’re not expecting to hear ‘yes’ on the first,” she said, “but you’re expecting to have a conversation. They kind of just ignored everything we said.”
It appears not much progress was made during Thursday’s sit-down. “We’ve told the league and teams exactly why their proposal falls so short,” the union said in a release.
“This business is booming – media rights, ratings, revenue, team valuations, expansion fees, attendance and ticket sales. All are up in historic fashion. But short-changing the working women who make this business possible stalls growth. The only thing more unsustainable than the current system is pretending it can go on forever.”
The union added, “We are committed to returning to the negotiating table. And we will not stop until we achieve the transformational CBA this moment demands.”
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert described the session as “very constructive.” She told the AP, “We’re both in listening mode. We’re going back and forth on issues. We know what’s important to players. We know what’s important to owners and striking the right balance.”
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