Latest news with #All-WNBA
NBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- NBC News
Caitlin Clark dominates WNBA All-Star fan vote — but players vote her ninth among guards
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark will be a starter and team captain when the WNBA All-Star Game tips off in Indianapolis on July 19. It won't be because of her peers, though. The voting results for the league's All-Star Game were revealed Monday, and while Clark finished first among guards in the fan voting and third in the media vote, she finished ninth at the position on the players' ballot. Clark dominated the fan vote, which accounts for 50% of a player's weighted score for an All-Star nod. Her 1,293,536 votes are the most for a player in a single season in league history, and as one of the top two fan vote-getters, Clark will be a team captain for the All-Star Game. Her peers, however, were seemingly not as high on her game. Ballots include 10 players total — six in the frontcourt and four in the backcourt. Clark finishing ninth means several players left her off their ballot entirely. Dallas Wings rookie guard Paige Bueckers, meanwhile, finished fourth in the player vote and with a higher weighted vote than Clark. The 2024 Rookie of the Year and a first-team All-WNBA selection last season, Clark has had an up-and-down sophomore campaign. Clark is averaging 18.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game so far in 2025. She missed seven of the Fever's first 16 games due to injury, and her scoring and 3-point shooting (29.5%) are both down from last year. Clark also leads the WNBA with 5.9 turnovers a night. Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, the league's leading scorer, will be the other captain for the All-Star Game, which will take place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse — Clark's home arena — later this month.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
How to watch Fever at Wings: Caitlin Clark will miss showdown against Paige Bueckers
Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, two of the WNBA's most promising young talents, were set to meet as professionals for the first time on Friday night when the Indiana Fever take on the Dallas Wings. Instead, Clark will miss her second straight game because of a left groin injury, the Fever announced. The two shared the floor for a couple of high-stakes battles at the college level, including Clark's last Final Four appearance in 2024, but their first matchup as torchbearers for the next generation of WNBA superstars will have to wait. Even so, Friday night's game will be one to watch as Bueckers and a surging Wings team face off against other star-caliber players for the Fever. How to watch Indiana Fever at Dallas Wings Venue: American Airlines Center — Dallas Advertisement Time: 7:30 p.m. ET, Friday TV: ION, WNBA League Pass Streaming: Fubo (try for free) Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub. The Wings enter at 4-12, but they appear to be trending in the right direction as winners in three of their last four. Bueckers leads the team in scoring and has showcased her all-around skill set, notching over 4.5 rebounds and assists per game while excelling on the defensive end of the floor. She's averaging nearly 21 points per game since June 11 and popped for a career-high 35 in a 13-point loss to the Phoenix Mercury on the same day. Clark, who's averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 assists and five rebounds per game, will be sidelined for the seventh time this season. She sat out five games after suffering a left quadriceps strain on May 24, and then missed Indiana's home loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday night due to her most recent injury. Advertisement Her Fever are still finding their footing, bouncing around the .500 mark and retooling the roster on the fly, but the hallmarks of a title contender are there when everyone is healthy. Aliyah Boston (31 points) and Kelsey Mitchell (26) helped guide Indiana to a much-needed win over the Seattle Storm on Tuesday — a rare off night when Clark finished with more turnovers (eight) than points (six). Without Clark on the court, Mitchell led the Fever with 20 points against the Sparks. Beyond Bueckers, Dallas also rosters three-time All-WNBA guard Arike Ogunbowale and All-Defensive guard DiJonai Carrington. The Wings are still in transition under the direction of first-year head coach Chris Koclanes, but they have a strong foundation and look poised to put their 1-11 start behind them. Clark's absence will likely disappoint fans who bought up tickets to watch her duel with Bueckers. The Wings announced in March that Friday's contest would be moved from their regular venue to American Airlines Center — home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, among others — due to increased demand. Fortunately for them, the Fever and Wings will play each other three more times, including another date in Texas on Aug. 1. The Athletic This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, WNBA, Sports Betting, Fubo Partnership 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
How to watch Fever at Wings: Caitlin Clark will miss showdown against Paige Bueckers
Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, two of the WNBA's most promising young talents, were set to meet as professionals for the first time on Friday night when the Indiana Fever take on the Dallas Wings. Instead, Clark will miss her second straight game because of a left groin injury, the Fever announced. The two shared the floor for a couple of high-stakes battles at the college level, including Clark's last Final Four appearance in 2024, but their first matchup as torchbearers for the next generation of WNBA superstars will have to wait. Even so, Friday night's game will be one to watch as Bueckers and a surging Wings team face off against other star-caliber players for the Fever. How to watch Indiana Fever at Dallas Wings Venue: American Airlines Center — Dallas Advertisement Time: 7:30 p.m. ET, Friday TV: ION, WNBA League Pass Streaming: Fubo (try for free) Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub. The Wings enter at 4-12, but they appear to be trending in the right direction as winners in three of their last four. Bueckers leads the team in scoring and has showcased her all-around skill set, notching over 4.5 rebounds and assists per game while excelling on the defensive end of the floor. She's averaging nearly 21 points per game since June 11 and popped for a career-high 35 in a 13-point loss to the Phoenix Mercury on the same day. Clark, who's averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 assists and five rebounds per game, will be sidelined for the seventh time this season. She sat out five games after suffering a left quadriceps strain on May 24, and then missed Indiana's home loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday night due to her most recent injury. Advertisement Her Fever are still finding their footing, bouncing around the .500 mark and retooling the roster on the fly, but the hallmarks of a title contender are there when everyone is healthy. Aliyah Boston (31 points) and Kelsey Mitchell (26) helped guide Indiana to a much-needed win over the Seattle Storm on Tuesday — a rare off night when Clark finished with more turnovers (eight) than points (six). Without Clark on the court, Mitchell led the Fever with 20 points against the Sparks. Beyond Bueckers, Dallas also rosters three-time All-WNBA guard Arike Ogunbowale and All-Defensive guard DiJonai Carrington. The Wings are still in transition under the direction of first-year head coach Chris Koclanes, but they have a strong foundation and look poised to put their 1-11 start behind them. Clark's absence will likely disappoint fans who bought up tickets to watch her duel with Bueckers. The Wings announced in March that Friday's contest would be moved from their regular venue to American Airlines Center — home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, among others — due to increased demand. Fortunately for them, the Fever and Wings will play each other three more times, including another date in Texas on Aug. 1. The Athletic This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, WNBA, Sports Betting, Fubo Partnership 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Is the most important position in the WNBA changing?
It's well known that power forwards and bigs have traditionally been the most dominant positions in the WNBA , and those players have had a stranglehold on the MVP award over the past decade. This remains the case today, with stars like A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Alyssa Thomas among the marquee league's players. Advertisement But with star talent like Caitlin Clark, Jackie Young and Sabrina Ionescu's ascensions, and rookie Paige Bueckers showing signs of promise, could we be on the verge of seeing guards emerge as the WNBA's premier position? On the latest episode of 'No Offseason,' Zena Keita, Ben Pickman and Sabreena Merchant broke down whether a changing of the guard might be underway. Keita: Guys, we've seen point guards rise to prominence of late. Caitlin Clark right now is still second in MVP odds, and she was in the top five last year in terms of the final votes. Paige Bueckers is also looking good, and Jackie Young has done phenomenal things, not only in the WNBA but we also saw her impact in the Olympics. We're seeing the guards starting to raise their hands and show their importance despite their lack of size. So when you think about the role of the power forward, in terms of positions, what would be the biggest potential threat to their dominance moving forward? Advertisement Pickman: It's about asking the question, are we in an era where the importance of the power forward is a product of who the specific players are, or is it a product of how basketball is being played and the positional landscape? Is the importance of power forward just a product of Alyssa Thomas, Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier being the best players in the league? Because in 2013, all five members of the All-WNBA first team were forwards. So looking ahead, the question is, will we have an All-WNBA first team where Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu and Paige Bueckers are three of the five members? I'm just throwing out scenarios right now, but in five years, could it be Clark, Ionescu, Bueckers and JuJu Watkins, for example, and we don't have one of these kinds of unicorn bigs in there? It's an interesting question, and it's one that I've actually posed to some people around the league. Karl Smesko, the head coach of the Atlanta Dream, is an interesting test case because they've relied on these double bigs a lot this year with two centers (instead of) having one of these unicorn forwards. He basically said he thought it was a realistic possibility that things would shift as the makeup of the WNBA shifts. But another interesting name to consider going forward is (UCLA's) Lauren Betts, because she could very well be the top pick in next year's draft. As of now, she's a pretty traditional five. We'll see how much she's going to step out and shoot 3s this year alongside her sister (Sienna), who's around 6-foot-4, but she's a much more traditional five. What happens if she becomes one of the most dominant players in the league going forward? A lot of this is frankly just a product of who's in the league at that moment in time, and what their skill set is overall. Merchant: I think we have enough young and dominant power forwards to sustain the current trend for a little while here. Napheesa Collier was drafted in 2019, and Satou Sabally was drafted in 2020, and she's another one of those combo three-fours who's been exceptional. Also, you still see the importance of the power forward when you look at the teams that have struggled to meet expectations this year. For the Aces, part of their struggles is because they don't have a second forward to complement A'ja Wilson. For the Indiana Fever, part of their struggles is they're too small, and they don't really have a power forward who's played particularly well this season. They're just sort of masquerading with Sophie Cunningham at that spot, and also Natasha Howard hasn't performed up to her expectations. When I look at the next generation of players coming in, (UConn's) Sarah Strong is in there, and she could be an excellent power forward when she gets to the WNBA. She could already be the best player in college basketball next season. When you think about team-building right now, you can't win a title without getting through Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and A'ja Wilson. So at a certain point, you have to figure that out first, and that inherently ends up making better power forwards. I didn't even mention Kiki Iriafen yet, she's been awesome as a rookie, definitely top three. Janelle Salaün is also a great power forward, and when I think about next year's draft, even though Awa Fam is center-sized, she plays like a power forward. So there is a nice young crop of power forwards still coming through. A lot of them grew up watching players like Candace Parker, Breanna Stewart and Elena Delle Donne and wanted to model their games after them. So that pipeline could still continue. Advertisement Keita: There are also so many more players you can see who are developing their games right now to become better power forwards. I think of Ezi Magbegor working to get her outside shot going, and I'm looking at Angel Reese trying to become more of a distributor and develop her outside shot. So you're seeing people are adapting. You mentioned earlier that it's a copycat league, so people are watching who's getting to their bag in terms of buckets, efficiency, wins and impacting the league in a dominant way — and it's still the power forward position. But it will be interesting to see if the guards start to pose a threat to the power forwards, or if the power forwards are here to stay. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. WNBA, No Offseason Podcast 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Indianapolis Star
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Can 'Supernova' Caitlin Clark become the most famous American athlete? Colin Cowherd makes shocking comparison
Much has been made of Caitlin Clark's effect on the WNBA. But where does she stack up against all American athletes? Fox Sports commentators Nick Wright and Colin Cowherd make the case that could surpass everyone else — except maybe the best NFL quarterbacks. "Once Steph (Curry) and LeBron (James) retire, will there be an active American athlete that's more famous than her?" Wright said. "I think she will be more famous than every baseball player. She might already be. Every hockey player, all of the U.S. men's national team. "And I think she's already more famous than every NBA player expect (Kevin Durant), Steph and LeBron. And I don't see any (other American NBA players) catching her. I think she's a supernova of fame and talent." Celebrate Caitlin Clark's remarkable rookie season with IndyStar's book Clark won two national Player of the Year honors in leading Iowa to consecutive national championship games, and last year she won WNBA Rookie of the Year and made first-team All-WNBA for the Indiana Fever. She has marketing deals with State Farm, Gatorade, Wilson Sporting Goods, Nike and many others. "She's the Tiger (Woods) of 20 years ago on tour," Cowherd said, noting that when Clark was recently injured, WNBA television ratings dropped. "Nothing against the WNBA. She's literally changing the entire league economy."
