The spectacle of the WNBA’s All-Star Game featured the best of the league

PHOENIX — Cheryl Reeve expected it would be difficult to focus on coaching Team USA in the 2024 All-Star Game because of everything else going on surrounding the team’s training camp in Phoenix.

“It’s one of the greatest spectacles, I think, in the history of our league, this game today,” Reeve said ahead of Team USA’s 117-109 loss to Team WNBA here at Footprint Center on Saturday night. “The excitement that’s there not only for the national team, but for some of the players on the All-Star team representing the W, I think all of those things coming together at once, I think it’s incredibly exciting.”

It was felt all over town, including a packed WNBA Live hours before tipoff of the sold-out game. Celebrities and icons like Aubrey Plaza, Jason Sudeikis, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, Sheryl Swoopes, Shannon Sharpe and Paige Bueckers lined the sidelines. Players made back-to-back brand activation appearances over the past 48 hours, surprising fans with long lines and signing autographs.

Reeve, a legendary coach who led the Minnesota Lynx to four WNBA championships in seven years, said she was “thrilled to get a great spot” at the spectacle. But the storylines and distractions certainly took their toll on Team USA, which was holding its first training camp here a week before the Paris Olympics with the Games more on its mind than an All-Star celebration finally worthy of the league’s talent.

She was also right that the competition generated countless storylines.

Team USA will do just fine

Team USA didn’t look sharp, losing the ball 14 times, mostly with sloppy passes. And defensively, giving up 117 points in Paris isn’t enough. But there’s no reason to panic.

“We have work to do,” Reeve said. “And we know it.”

This is still a fresh group that has barely been together as the current iteration. Team USA only held two practices on consecutive days and a walk-through shootaround on Saturday morning before the game. That’s not a lot of time for a group that has never played together.

“It’s not a time to panic, it’s a time to learn and grow,” said two-time Olympic gold medalist Breanna Stewart.

The national team isn’t the same every time, even if some players are well-versed in playing with each other on previous teams. Reeve said the muscle memory of players who were used to playing with their WNBA teams, which they played with days ago, affected their adjustments.

“You’re not going to be able to instinctively go to those places if it’s different than what you’ve been doing,” Reeve said. “And so we have to very, very quickly replace some of the things that you’re doing for other teams.”

Defensively, Stewart said the team needs to be on the same page and they weren’t on Saturday night. That can be solved with time and space, given the hustle and bustle of an All-Star weekend, where players have responsibilities to their brand partnerships and the competition. The team heads to London next week for a showcase against Germany before the Games opener.

“I’ve been saying it since I’ve been here, and Phoenix is ​​a great host, but I can’t wait to get to London where we can really focus,” said Stewart, one of the team’s new guards with A’ja Wilson. “Just because of the other stuff, the commitments you have and the things that go on with All-Star weekend, it’s hard to balance (with) what we’re doing to get ready for the Olympics. Now we can just focus on the U.S..”

Team WNBA was motivated and presented the following 12 best players in the country at the moment. They are better than many countries that the US will face in international competition.

“This is our first test and I’m glad we got tested. This is something we needed as well, just like a few years ago,” Wilson said.

Team USA also lost to Team WNBA in 2021, but still won its seventh consecutive gold medal at the Olympics.

“It was the same four years ago (when) Team WNBA beat Team USA,” said Caitlin Clark, the team’s future. “They were fine in the Olympics. It just shows how good this league is.”

Arike Ogunbowale came to life thanks to Cheryl Miller

Arike Ogunbowale said that Team WNBA “got wind” that Team USA was going to come out on top and they tied it in a one-possession first half. She got no wind, or any indication, that she would be booed by head coach Chery Miller at halftime.

“I didn’t expect her to call my name,” Ogunbowale said. “She was talking about the team and she pointed at me. And I was like, OK. She just told me to take a deep breath and play my game.”

The Wings guard’s play is destroying Team USA. She scored a game-high 26 en route to MVP in the 2021 Team WNBA victory over Team USA. This time around, she scored 21 in the third quarter alone after a scoreless first half, finishing with 34 to secure her second All-Star Game MVP award. Ogunbowale was nearly unmissable from 3-point range, shooting 5 of 7 to bring Phoenix fans to their feet every time she came from deep.

“As a scorer, you have all the confidence in the world when you see a couple of them fall like that. The basket looks really big,” Clark said. “I know exactly how she felt. She was just in the zone. And they played really good defense, multiple times. There’s just nothing you can do in those situations where she’s making step-back 3s, one-legged floaters, stuff like that. You literally can’t defend that.”

Clark said she admires Ogunbowale as one of the best one-on-one players in the league. She has made four All-Star appearances in her six-year career, with only five appearances. The 34 points were an All-Star record, breaking Jewell Loyd’s 31 points last year. Stewart tied that record with 31 for Team USA, along with 10 rebounds.

Ogunbowale is not on the national team because she removed her name, citing “politics” in the committee’s decision-making on talent. She is the fourth player in league history to win multiple WNBA All-Star awards, joining Lisa Leslie (three times), Maya Moore (three) and Swin Cash (twice).

The rookies continued their stellar seasons with historic All-Star rookie scores. Clark played the most minutes on Team WNBA in the first half and kept the ball moving well to keep it close. She finished with 10 assists, one shy of the record set by Sue Bird in 2017.

“That’s Sue’s record. You can’t take that away from her. That’s my homie,” Clark said.

It is, however, a rookie record in the All-Star Game. And it showed the importance of chemistry and time, as a few of her passes near the paint seemed to catch the bigs off guard. She fed Fever teammate Aliyah Boston a 1 and hit fellow rookie Angel Reese for her 10th of the night. Late in the game, she appeared to swing away, taking the ball out of Ogunbowale’s hands as the star took Team USA one-on-one.

Reese played most of the second half with 12 points and 11 rebounds, the first double-double by a rookie in WNBA All-Star history. She had four points and seven rebounds in 3:23 of the first half.

Allisha Gray isn’t a rookie, but she also came close to a record. Her five steals were one shy of the six Ruthie Bolton set in 2001. It was a continuation of the Atlanta Dream guard

Give us USA-WNBA All-Star every year

It wasn’t just the most competitive WNBA All-Star Game in history, it might just be the most competitive in any sport this year. The game felt like a real stakes game, and while there were some cute little moments — Clark laughing after a 3-point attempt she should have made, or Kelsey Mitchell and Kelsey Plum tying the game — it was a quality game.

But don’t expect it to be without major changes to the WNBA schedule every year.

“If it’s not an Olympic year, I don’t want to defend,” Wilson said in a humorous exchange with Stewart.

Wilson and Stewart agreed that the current format doesn’t allow for a serious All-Star Game, since teams play until the night before the Orange Carpet opens the festivities and in a standard year go to games a day or two later. Stewart said a real break from the condensed schedule could allow for a more competitive game.

That’s unlikely. Earlier in the day, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league is looking at a 44-game schedule next season because there are no Olympics or World Cups to plan around. The league is playing its second 40-game season, and the collective bargaining agreement allows for a maximum of 44. The size of the season would have to be expanded later to make it work. It can’t be done any sooner because the NCAA Tournament ends the first week of April and the draft a week later. It’s already tight.

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