The WNBA All-Star Game isn’t happening for another week and a half, but the ladies are already having fun getting ready for it. Last night, Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier, the top two All-Star vote-getters, chose the teams on ESPN, and they added one interesting and unprecedented twist.
Advertisement
Clark and Collier divvied up the greatest talent in the women’s game, and for the most part, their picks were unsurprising. Clark got both of her eligible Fever teammates, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, while Collier nabbed her Lynx teammate Courtney Williams and her former UConn teammate Breanna Stewart.
What shook up the All-Star game draft was when the captains decided to trade coaches, a move that we’re still not sure was even legal. That sent Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve to Team Collier to be reunited with her two players, while Clark received Liberty coach Sandy Brondello. The trade took Brondello away from Stewart, but it reconnected her with Sabrina Ionescu.
After the Liberty beat the Aces last night, thanks in large part to Ionescu’s 28-point effort, the player and coach had some fun with the trade in the press conference afterward.
Sandy: “And I got traded yes my son hit me up. I’ve created history this is awesome. I got traded as a coach. But look I get to coach with Sabrina I’m on Caitlin Clark’s in Indianapolis. What a great show. So we’ll get out there and have some fun.
Sabrina: “You can’t escape me.” pic.twitter.com/gKUBty7fyv
— correlation (@nosyone4) July 9, 2025
Ionescu’s “You can’t escape me” brought to mind Isla Fisher’s line from Wedding Crashers when she told Vince Vaughn, “Don’t ever leave me… ’cause I’d find you.” Though the obvious mutual affection between the defending champs is much more wholesome and far less problematic.
Brondello has coached Ionescu since 2022, and the two have found great success together. They reached the WNBA Finals in 2023 and won the whole thing last year. The Liberty are currently 13-6, tied for the second-best record in the league with Brondello’s old team, the Phoenix Mercury. Collier’s Lynx are setting the pace this season at 17-2.
The All-Star Game will be hosted at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana. And barring a setback, the hometown crowd should get to see Clark in action. She’s set to return for Wednesday’s noon matchup from the groin injury that’s caused her to miss the last five games.
Seeing Clark and Ionescu, the two greatest shooters in the women’s game, on the floor together is sure to be a treat. We’re also likely to get some great moments from Ionescu and Brondello going against Stewart.
Unlike the NBA All-Star Game, which has fallen off thanks to a lack of effort by the players and a subsequent disinterest from the fans, the WNBA version should be a lot of fun. July 19 can’t get here soon enough.
