Everyone, calm down about Caitlin Clark's All-Star player votes
For the second consecutive season, Clark was named an All-Star. The Indiana guard will also serve as captain alongside Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier on July 19 when the 2025 WNBA All-Star is held in Indianapolis. Clark garnered over 1.2 million votes, a record-breaking amount, ahead of this month's festivities. Collier was not far behind with 1.1 million votes. That should be what the online chatter is about ― a celebration of the players and the growth the WNBA continues to churn out ― but here we are, once again, deeply embroiled in toxic nonsense.
WNBA ALL-STAR: WNBA All-Star ballot with Caitlin Clark, Napheesa Collier
On Monday, the league revealed the voting breakdown for the top 10 finishers among fans, media and players. While some discrepancies in how those three groups view Clark are expected, it's the player vote that's ratcheted up the worst parts of women's basketball discourse after Clark ranked ninth among guards.
"Absolutely pure jealously that WNBA players voted Caitlin Clark the ninth best guard," said broadcaster Dick Vitale, echoing where the narratives have gone since Monday afternoon. "Some day they will realize what she has done for all of the players in the WNBA."
This is far from the first time allegations of supposed player "jealousy" have been tossed around. Anytime there is a perceived slight against Clark, be it fouls, physical play, or, yes, even All-Star voting ranks, a vicious cycle of uninformed takes starts up again.
Frankly, everyone needs to calm down.
The WNBA All-Star rankings among the players was for this season ― as in 2025. It isn't an amalgamation of Clark's impact over the last two years. While she is a generational talent and a tremendous player who has certainly altered the fabric of the league, this season hasn't been her best. Clark has missed 7 games due to injuries, and her baseline stats among the guards of the league are lower by even her standards.
Despite being first among guards in assists per game (8.9), she's eighth in points (18.2 per matchup), third in made 3-pointers (2.6 per game), and Clark has the most turnovers among guards with 5.9 giveaways per contest. For comparison, in 2024, she was fourth in points per game, first in made 3-point shots per matchup, and her turnovers per contest (higher due to the sheer volume she handles) were lower at 5.6 per game.
Clark's current production isn't particularly alarming, but for a player of her caliber, who began the season with a triple-double, the standard is higher, and thus, so are the expectations. When peeling back the ranking by her colleagues, an understanding of how the players arrived at such a conclusion doesn't seem as jarring. Furthermore, knee-jerk reactions to the rankings do little to take into consideration what the players potentially value.
Do they want her to be a better one-on-one defender? Would they like to see more three-level scoring from Clark? Could her shot selection improve? Answers to those sorts of questions are currently unknown, and without the background knowledge and explanations from the player pool who voted, the automatic assumption of jealousy feels willfully short-sighted.
Additionally, Clark wasn't the only guard whose rank caught the eyes of the public. For example, Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, who is top six or better in multiple categories amongst guards (including a group-leading 20.6 points per game) was ranked 16th by her peers. Yet, the outrage for Plum, a two-time WNBA champion and one of the top guards in years past, seems minimal in comparison.
This isn't to say that people don't have a right to feel taken aback by Clark's ranking, but the outrage feels hollow when others are facing the same kind of discrepancy, and voting, at its core, is objective. The premise asks people to be on the same page and value the same things about a player without being in the same room with one another to align on it. That's likely going to be nearly impossible even with what people assume is a clear-cut choice.
In other words, Caitlin Clark is still Caitlin Clark regardless of an All-Star ranking, and unhinged takes that bulldoze the lines of reasonable thinking aren't needed in a promising WNBA landscape.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
23 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
WNBA Preview: All-Star starters and snubs; Liberty look to get back on track
There is a running joke on the internet that Mondays during the WNBA season often yield the most drama and news coming out of the league and its players. There's a reason for this: often there aren't games on Mondays, although there are some weeks this season where there are. But for the most part, Monday is typically a day when the league is dark. Well, yesterday was an example of that trend in practice. Not only did the league announce that it will be adding three more expansion teams in addition to the two more expansion teams in Toronto and Portland that will debut next season, but there was a trade, a surprise cut from the Golden State Valkyries, and the All-Star starters for the July 19 All-Star Game in Indianapolis were announced. The league announced that Cleveland would be awarded the WNBA's 16th team which will begin play in 2028, Detroit would earn the 17th, officially joining in 2029 and then Philadelphia would become the 18th franchise and would begin play in 2030. All ownership groups of these three new franchises paid a $250 million expansion fee, close to five times what Joe Lacob and Peter Guber paid for the Valkyries back in 2023. Moments after all of that pomp and circumstance at the league office, the Las Vegas Aces traded for NaLyssa Smith which sent a Las Vegas 2027 first round draft pick back to the Wings. And as a result, the Aces had to waive rookie Elizabeth Kitley and veteran Tiffany Mitchell in order to make roster and salary room for Smith. And then the Valkyries waived Julie Vanloo, who was away from the team competing in EuroBasket. Vanloo missed her Belgian National team's gold medal celebration after winning EuroBasket to make sure she was back in the Bay Area as soon as possible. She got news of being released merely moments after landing back in California. While Vanloo struggled at times during her minutes on court with Golden State, there are questions about the timing of the franchise letting her know of their decision before hopping on a long 14-15 hour flight back to San Francisco. Belgian star Emma Messeman — who some believed the Valks had interest in — commented this on the post about Vanloo's release. Vanloo flew to the Bay to come back in the 48 hour window while Belgium was still celebrating the EuroBasket win. This all happened on a Monday and that's in addition to the day before where Angel Reese put on another career performance scoring while shooting over 52 percent from the field in addition to 16 rebounds and seven assists, nearly her second triple double. She did all of this while her former childhood idol Candace Parker was in attendance and got her jersey retired by the Sparks prior to tipoff. Who are the 2025 WNBA All-Star starters? Before I preview the week ahead, let's discuss the All-Star starters which were announced on Monday evening. The two highest fan vote getters, Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier, were named captains and automatic starters on Sunday. And then a day later, the final eight starters were announced by two different ESPN sponsored shows. The final eight starters were determined by the weighted combination of fan votes, media votes and player votes. Fan votes were weighed at 50 percent with the media and peer votes counting for 25 percent each. What jumped out immediately in the league's weighted voting results was how Clark was ranked by her peers. The players ranked Atlanta's Allisha Gray first, New York's Sabrina Ionescu second and then Clark ninth. This shouldn't be a huge surprise especially considering that Clark has only played in nine of the Fever's total 16 games so far this season, and she's shot the ball very inefficiently (39% overall and 29.5% from three) in addition to averaging 5.9 turnovers. But this also isn't the first time a very popular player was ranked lower by her peers as Ionescu got similar treatment two years ago and was ranked 19th by the players. It's incredibly hard to argue with the eight other starters that were selected. A'ja Wilson is still putting up All-WNBA numbers even if they aren't as impressive as they were during her otherworldly 2024 MVP season. Gray has put together close to if not the best statistical season she's had since entering the league in 2017. Nneka Ogwumike earned her 10th All-Star selection on another incredibly efficient start to the season shooting 53.1% on 13.4 attempts per game. She's been even more efficient than MVP front-runner Collier. Prior to Ionescu's recent shooting slump, she and Liberty teammate Breanna Stewart were both putting up over 20 points a game and led their team in the Liberty to a 9-0 start prior to losing Jonquel Jones to an ankle sprain and Leonie Fiebich to EuroBasket. The Mercury's Satou Sabally has also put up a career season so far and took the brunt of the scoring load when Alyssa Thomas was out for two weeks with a calf injury. Aliyah Boston has the highest field goal percentage (59.7) among players who play over 25 minutes a game. And last and certainly not least, Paige Bueckers leads all rookies in points and assists per game and is third amongst rookies in field goal percentage for first-year players who play over 25 minutes a game. She is scoring the eleventh-most in the league and seventh most among guards sitting right below Ionescu and right above Clark. Announcing your 2025 WNBA @ATT All-Star Starters... 🌟 Caitlin Clark (C), @indianafever 🌟 Napheesa Collier (C), @minnesotalynx 🌟 Aliyah Boston, @indianafever 🌟 Paige Bueckers, @dallaswings 🌟 Allisha Gray, @atlantadream 🌟 Sabrina Ionescu, @nyliberty 🌟 Nneka Ogwumike,… Who Are The WNBA All-Star Starter Snubs? The point is, it's incredibly hard to make an argument against any of these players starting in the All-Star game. The one that maybe there's an argument against might actually be Clark. Who could have replaced her just based on statistical output alone? Skylar Diggins comes to mind immediately just based on the fact that she's the 7th best in scoring and third in scoring among guards. Also, she's averaging the fourth most assists and is fifth in win shares (2.5) via Her Hoop Stats. She's fourth in field goal percentage among guards that average over 30 minutes a game (46.3). Another guard that could have been an All-Star starter is Kelsey Plum who has put up an impressive statistical season so far even as her Los Angeles Sparks continue to struggle in their journey to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Plum leads all guards scoring 20.6 points a game and is sixth among guards in average assists with 5.6. In a league dominated by versatile forwards, it's not a surprise that there wasn't enough room for maybe one of the most versatile in Alyssa Thomas. Thomas has put up some of the best numbers of her career, leading the league in assists (9.3) and averaging more points than she did during her 2023 season, the one where Stewart beat her out in the MVP voting. The reason Thomas missed the boat is probably because of the two weeks she missed. The final player who I think there's an argument for to be an All-Star starter is Brionna Jones who while she doesn't score in the 20s like her peers, she's accumulated 2.3 win shares, the same amount that A'ja Wilson has and a bit more than Thomas and Sabally. She and Diggins are the only players within the top seven in win shares who didn't become All-Star starters. It would be shocking if any of these players who weren't named starters don't make the final All-Star team. Right now reserves are being voted on by the WNBA's head coaches and those results will be revealed this Sunday July 6 at 12 pm et. Just a disclaimer, head coaches cannot vote for their own players. The Week Ahead Since this week features the Commissioner's Cup Championship game on Tuesday night, there are fewer games to choose from. The league goes on a mini hiatus on Wednesday before picking up again on Thursday. After the Commissioner's Cup Final takes place in Minneapolis, the majority of the games to watch out for are rematches of recent matchups. Can the Fever get revenge on the Aces and can the Liberty redeem themselves against the Storm with Fiebich back from EuroBasket? (Tuesday July 1 at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video) Now that Clark has been ruled out officially, do the Fever have a shot at winning? It's going to be a tough hill to climb for a team that almost fell to the Dallas Wings on Friday without Clark. This is the right move for Indiana looking at Clark's long term health, but what makes this matchup worth watching is the very fact that these two teams haven't played each other yet. The Lynx's two losses this season came in games where they were outworked by their opponent and allowed at least 20 opponent points off their own turnovers. If the Fever play hard, they have a shot. But if the Lynx value their possessions, this should be a very winnable game and Minnesota would become the first back-to-back Commissioner's Cup Champions in league history. (Thursday July 3 at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video) Even if Clark misses this game as well, it will be fascinating to see how much run newly acquired Aces forward NaLyssa Smith gets. The Aces won this matchup the first time around on June 22 with Clark on the floor for the Fever. But this will be the first test the Aces have to see if by adding Smith defenses actually guard her, which could open up more space on the floor. Las Vegas has often struggled when opposing defenses don't even guard Kiah Stokes and load up on their other players. (Thursday July 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET on League Pass ) The Mystics will be looking for a win after dropping their latest 79-71 against the incredibly shorthanded Dallas Wings. But also the Lynx's second loss of the season came to the Mystics on June 24. While both teams were without their best players in Napheesa Collier and Brittney Sykes, the Mystics still defended aggressively and earned that win by forcing 19 turnovers and scoring 26 points off those turnovers. Can the two-way play of versatile center Shakira Austin stifle Collier at all? If Collier struggles and the Mystics' defense stays aggressive, I'd say this has the potential to be a really competitive game to pay attention to. (Saturday July 5 at 8 p.m. ET on League Pass) The Lynx have a ton of fascinating matchups this week including one against the Valkyries. While Minnesota beat Golden State convincingly around a month ago, the Valkyries have somehow gotten better since they lost players to EuroBasket. (Presumably another reason why they waived guard Vanloo.) Following some New York Liberty struggles, the Valkyries now have the second best defense in the league which has powered them to a 2.7 net rating. Compare that to the -10.7 net rating that Golden State had when the Lynx last played the Valkyries. (Sunday July 6 at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS) The New York Liberty have been going through it lately, losing four of their last five games as they continued to adjust to playing without 2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones and German wing Fiebich. One of those losses came to the Storm on June 22 when they only lost by 10 points 89-79. While Fiebich will most likely be available for this game and should provide more shooting and defense, it will be interesting to see how the Liberty continue to wade through their schedule before Jones returns presumably after the All-Star break. Can defeating a streaky Storm team get the defending champions back on track?
NBC Sports
28 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Caitlin Clark's groin strain sidelines her for Fever's 3rd game in row, Commissioner's Cup vs. Lynx
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark was ruled out of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup final on Tuesday with a strained groin, her third straight absence for the Indiana Fever. The Fever announced on their pregame injury report that Clark would sit against the Minnesota Lynx in the championship game of the league's in-season tournament. The game does not count toward the regular-season standings. Clark, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft and one of the two captains selected for the WNBA All-Star Game later this month, never missed a game in college at Iowa or with the Fever as a rookie until a strained quadriceps earlier this season kept her out for five games. The game against the league-leading Lynx was another high-profile matchup Clark's absence put a bit of a damper on. She missed Indiana's game on Friday at Dallas that would've pitted her against Wings rookie Paige Bueckers and featured the top picks of the last two drafts. AP WNBA:
Los Angeles Times
28 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark finishes as the ninth-ranked guard in players' All-Star voting
Caitlin Clark is the best player in the WNBA. At least that's what the public seems to think. The Indiana Fever superstar received a record 1,293,526 fan votes for the 2025 WNBA All-Star game. Her fellow players, however, don't seem to agree. Clark finished in ninth place among WNBA guards in player voting. Nonetheless, Clark will serve as a team captain for the July 19 event that will take place at her team's home arena, Gainbridge Fieldhouse. That honor is determined solely by fan votes, with Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx named as the other team captain after garnering 1,176,020 votes. Clark finished third among guards in media All-Star voting. Her cumulative weighted score (determined by 50% fan voting, 25% player voting and 25% media voting) was 3.5. That tied her for second among guards with New York's Sabrina Ionescu (fifth in fan voting, second in media voting, second in player voting). Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers received the top weighted score among guards (3.25) after finishing second in fan voting, fifth in media voting and fourth in player voting. While Clark's ranking in the players' poll might seem shockingly low, some perspective might be necessary. Each WNBA player receives one All-Star ballot on which they are allowed to cast a vote for up to four guards and six frontcourt players. That means that no one wrote on a ballot — or even had the opportunity to do so — that Clark is the league's ninth best guard; instead, she was left out of enough players' top four that her cumulative score was the ninth highest among guards. In addition, it is unknown how many players even cast their ballots or how seriously those who did took the matter. Still, some people have taken the results from the player voting as evidence of the ongoing narrative that many WNBA players are jealous of Clark and the credit she often receives for the league's massive surge in popularity over the last two seasons. 'Absolutely PURE JEALOUSY that @WNBA players voted Caitlin Clark the 9th best guard,' legendary basketball announcer Dick Vitale wrote on X. 'Some day they will realize what she Has done for ALL of the players in the WNBA. Charted planes - increase in salaries-sold out crowds - improved TV Ratings.' Vitale added in another post, 'No doubt she is THE BEST - thing to happen to the WNBA.' Former NFL quarterback and current sports commentator Robert Griffin III wrote a lengthy post on X about the matter. 'Players are supposed to get it right more than the fans and the media because they know what it takes and what it looks like,' Griffin wrote. 'Not all WNBA Players are to blame and not all of them hate or are jealous of Caitlin Clark. But, the players that voted her low got it wrong in this case and some WNBA players are letting their jealously of Caitlin Clark get in the way of greatness for the entire WNBA.' Clark has struggled with injuries in her second WNBA season, having missed five games because of a left quadriceps strain and Indiana's last two games because of a groin strain. She is listed as questionable for the Fever's game against the Lynx in the Commissioner's Cup final Tuesday night. Having played in nine games so far in 2025, Clark is averaging 18.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 8.9 assists with a league-high 5.9 turnovers. The top 10 guards and top 10 frontcourt players in the weighted scores were announced as All-Star starters on Monday. Sparks guard Kelsey Plum made the cut after finishing sixth in the fan vote, sixth in the media vote and 16th in the player vote. Clark's longtime on-court rival Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky will start in the frontcourt after finishing fifth in the fan vote, 12th in the media vote and 12th in the player vote. Clark and Collier will draft their respective All-Star teams from that group of starters plus 13 reserves that will be chosen by the WNBA coaches and announced Sunday.
