NEW YORK (AP) — Caitlin Clark was voted to start her third straight All-Star Game and will be joined by Indiana Fever teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston, the WNBA announced Thursday.
It's the second time in four years that three players from the same team were chosen to start the game, with Las Vegas doing it in 2023. Clark wasn't able to play in last year's game that the Fever hosted because she was injured right before the All-Star break.
Clark and Mitchell will be joined this year in the backcourt by Dallas' Paige Bueckers and Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles. It's the fourth consecutive year that a rookie was chosen as an All-Star starter. Bueckers played last season.
A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Jessica Shepard, Natasha Howard and Gabby Williams were selected for the frontcourt for the game that will be played in Chicago on July 25. It will be Wilson's and Stewart's eighth All-Star appearance while Shepard will be making her first.
“It's an honor to be an All-Star, even though I've had a few of them,” Stewart said. “Each one is really special and I'm not taking it lightly.”
Williams played in her first All-Star Game last season. Howard will play in her third.
Starters were chosen by a mixture of fan, player and media votes. The fan vote counted for 50% while media and player votes were 25% each. Each player’s score was calculated by averaging their weighted rank from all three areas.
The league's head coaches will select the 12 reserves for the team, results that will be announced Tuesday. The 15 head coaches will vote for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference. Coaches can’t vote for their own players.
New this year, WNBA greats Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon will serve as honorary general managers and select the two teams from the pool of All-Stars. Previously the top two fan vote-getters would serve as captains and select the squads.
Bueckers, Clark and Boston were the top three vote-getters among fans. All three received more than 1 million votes.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) grabs a rebound over Golden State Valkyries guard Kaitlyn Chen (2) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, June 21, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston, left, drives on Atlanta Dream forward Naz Hillmon in the first half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) shoots over Atlanta Dream forward Sika Kone (23) in the first half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
NHL free agency spilled into Thursday with some high-profile players still on the open market, including Stanley Cup champions Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko. Alex Ovechkin is staying put in Washington.
With a social media post picturing Ovechkin and the words, “It's so not O-ver,” the Capitals ended months of speculation Thursday regarding the 40-year-old's future and whether he might head home to compete in Russia. The NHL’s all-time goal-scoring leader is returning for a 22nd season after signing a bonus-laden deal with a $1 million salary that will make him $9 million at age 41 as long as he plays in 10 games.
The Capitals made sure to keep enough salary cap space open to fit Ovechkin during an offseason in which they added Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuch, Boone Jenner and Vincent Desharnais.
A day after landing prized free agent goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, the Toronto Maple Leafs continued their offseason transformation by signing former Capitals forward Brandon Duhaime to a three-year contract.
Meantime, Kane is still available after spending the past three years with Detroit. Kane is 37 now and a decade removed from winning the Hart Trophy as MVP when he led the league in scoring. Also unsigned are wingers Tarasenko and Anthony Mantha, who is coming off a career year, and forward Claude Giroux, who is still chasing a championship at 38.
The first 11-plus hours of free agency featured more than 55 players changing places across the league with more than $360 million worth of contracts. And that's not even counting Bowen Byram becoming the highest-paid defenseman at an average salary of $12.5 million beginning in 2027 under his new deal with Chicago after he was acquired in a trade with Buffalo.
Byram's time with that distinction may be short if Colorado gets a new contract done with two-time Norris Trophy-winner Cale Makar, which also would go into effect in 2027-28.
The salary cap getting another record increase to $104 million led to some big-money deals but also reduced the depth of available talent because teams had room to re-sign their top players. New Jersey extended captain Nico Hischier, Florida re-signed center Eetu Luostarinen and Philadelphia rewarded goaltender Dan Vladar with a long-term contract.
The Minnesota Wild were busy in re-signing their own free agents and acquiring forward Blake Coleman and defenseman Olli Maatta in a trade with Calgary. The Flames acquired defenseman Jake Middleton and three draft picks, including a second-rounder in 2029. Calgary also agreed to retain 50% of the $4.9 million Coleman is owed in the final year of his contract.
The 34-year-old Coleman has 10 seasons of NHL experience and posted his fourth 20-goal season last year, finishing with 20 goals and 35 points. Matta is a 13-year NHL player noted for his defensive play. The 30-year-old Middleton leaves Minnesota after four-plus seasons.
The Wild signed Maxim Shabanov for $1.6 million for next season after the New York Islanders decided not to bring back the Russian winger.
Minnesota is also bringing back two players by re-signing defenseman Zach Bogosian ($1.25 million) and right wing Nick Foligno ($900,000) to one-year deals.
New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche was expecting a break after a busy stretch with the draft and free agency happening less than a week apart. He is also keeping an eye out for the Isles, who have been generally quiet in adding forward Matias Maccelli and backup goalie Vitek Vanecek while losing forward Anders Lee (signed by Utah).
“We’ll have probably over $40 million of cap space next summer," Darche said. “I’m still going to be working the rest of the summer, especially the next couple weeks. A lot of GMs, I won’t lie to you, they go on vacation and it goes pretty silent on the GM chat. But if I have opportunities to improve the team, I will. Every single day, it’s a relentless pursuit of trying to get better.”
AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
FILE - Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) skates in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 14, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
FILE - Ottawa Senators' Claude Giroux (28) waits for a face-off against the Carolina Hurricanes during the third period of an Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker,File)
FILE - Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, April 13, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara,File)
