NEW YORK — Lady Vol great Candace Parker is headed to her fifth WNBA All-Star Game, and this time she will do so as a team captain.
Parker is one of only three players in WNBA history to earn regular-season MVP, Finals MVP and All-Star Game MVP honors, joining Maya Moore and Lisa Leslie.
The WNBA revealed the list of 22 players selected by fans, WNBA players and head coaches, and media for Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018. Parker, a forward/center for the Los Angeles Sparks, and Washington Mystics forward/guard Elena Delle Donne will serve as team captains and draft the rosters for the 15th WNBA All-Star Game.
The contest will take place on Saturday, July 28, at Target Center in Minneapolis. ABC will televise the game between Team Parker and Team Delle Donne live at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT).
Moore, a four-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx, and Delle Donne earned spots as team captains after receiving the highest vote totals regardless of conference. Moore, however, informed the WNBA that she is unable to perform her captaincy duties at this time. She has been excused from those responsibilities but will remain a part of the All-Star Game. Parker was selected by WNBA President Lisa Borders to replace Moore as a team captain due to finishing third in the fan voting behind Moore and Delle Donne.
Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird and Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi headline the All-Star player pool. Bird was named an All-Star for the 11th time, breaking a tie with LVFL Tamika Catchings for the most selections in WNBA history. Taurasi, the 2009 WNBA MVP, earned her ninth All-Star selection, tied for the third most with Tina Thompson. She is one of seven WNBA MVPs to be chosen for Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018, joining Moore (2014), Delle Donne (2015), Parker (2008, 2013), New York Liberty center Tina Charles (2012), Lynx center Sylvia Fowles (2017) and Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike (2016).
The All-Stars were announced Tuesday night on ESPN’s SportsCenter. Under the new All-Star Game format that replaces the traditional matchup between conferences, Delle Donne and Parker will select their respective teams from the pool of remaining All-Stars to form two 11-player rosters. Delle Donne will make the first pick and Parker will have the second pick. The two captains will then alternate picks until all players have been selected.
The rosters for Team Delle Donne and Team Parker will be revealed on Thursday, July 19 at the start of ESPN2’s telecast of a game between Washington and the Dallas Wings (8 p.m. ET tip-off). On Friday, July 27, the All-Star team captains and head coaches will meet to determine the starting lineups. The starters will be revealed that night on ESPN2 (7 p.m. ET) during a live telecast of the WNBA All-Star Welcome Reception in Minnesota. Seattle head coach Dan Hughes will lead Team Delle Donne, while Phoenix head coach Sandy Brondello will guide Team Parker.
For the first time, All-Stars were selected without regard for conference affiliation. Fans accounted for 40 percent of the vote, while current players, current head coaches and a media panel accounted for 20 percent each. Players were not allowed to vote for their teammates. Head coaches could not vote for players on their own team.
Moore was the leading vote-getter among fans (47,620) in WNBA All-Star Voting 2018 presented by Verizon. She was followed by Delle Donne (42,171), Parker (38,575), Bird (37,098) and Taurasi (35,687). Fans cast 44 percent more votes than they did last year (873,437 vs. 604,680).
After all votes were tallied, players were ranked by position (guard and front court) within each voting group – fan votes, player votes, coach votes and media votes. Each player’s score was calculated by averaging her weighted rank applied to the respective voting groups. The nine guards and 13 front court players with the best scores were named to compete in Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018.
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