Elena Delle Donne named All-Star for 7th time in career
Elena Delle Donne named All-Star for 7th time in career originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Elena Delle Donne was named WNBA All-Star on Saturday for the seventh time in her career and the first time since she was named a team captain back in 2019. Delle Donne joins the 2023 WNBA All-Stars as a reserve, chosen in a vote by the league's 12 head coaches.
She is the organization's lone All-Star representative this season. This is the 15th-straight All-Star Game where Washington had a player named to the team.
All of her other six selections saw Delle Donne get named an All-Star starter. Twice she was named a team captain, becoming the first WNBA player to captain an All-Star team twice.
This year marks the first season that Delle Donne is back at full health following her multiple back procedures in the aftermath of the 2019 WNBA championship. She has played in 14 of the Mystics' 15 games posting a team-high 19.5 points per game, surpassing her average from last year. She is also averaging 6.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Right now, she is flirting with what would be the second 50/40/90 season of her career with a 50.0% mark from the field, 39.0% from 3-point range and 96.2% from the free-throw line.
To this day she remains the lone WNBA player to accomplish that feat.
Her play is pacing the Mystics to a comfortable fourth place in the league standings at 9-6. Washington has won four of its last six games and six of its last nine. The Mystics, along with the Connecticut Sun, appear to be the only contenders who can match up against the two super-teams, the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty.
Delle Donne was not named an All-Star during the 2021 and 2022 seasons and the pandemic canceled the 2020 event. During 2021 she did not play a single game in the first half of the year as she was recovering from her back injury. Last season, Delle Donne had comparable statistics to make the team despite missing some games but was ultimately not selected as one of the 22 All-Stars.
On Friday night, Delle Donne rolled her right ankle late against the Atlanta Dream. While she left the game, her status for Sunday's game and beyond is unknown. She has previously missed two All-Star Games due to injury.
This year ends Ariel Atkins' two-year streak of making the All-Star Game. One she made as a part of Team USA and the other she was chosen as a reserve.
Here is a list of all the All-Stars:
Starters:
Alyiah Boston, Fever (1st selection)
Chelsea Gray, Aces (5th selection)
Brittney Griner, Mercury (9th selection)
Jewell Loyd, Storm (5th selection)
Arike Ogunbowale, Wings (3rd selection)
Nneka Ogwumike, Sparks (8th selection)
Satou Sabally, Wings (2nd selection)
Breanna Stewart, Liberty (5th selection)
A'ja Wilson, Aces (5th selection)
Jackie Young, Aces (2nd selection)
Reserves:
DeWanna Bonner, Sun (5th selection)
Napheesa Collier, Lynx (3rd selection)
Kahleah Copper, Sky (3rd selection)
Elena Delle Donne, Mystics (7th selection)
Allisha Gray, Dream (1st selection)
Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty (2nd selection)
Ezi Magbegor, Storm (1st selection)
Kelsey Mitchell, Fever (1st selection)
Cheyenne Parker, Dream (1st selection)
Kelsey Plum, Aces (2nd selection)
Alyssa Thomas, Sun (4th selection)
Courtney Vandersloot, Liberty (5th selection)
The 2023 WNBA All-Star Game is set to be played on Saturday, July 15 at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. Tip on ABC is slated for 8:30 pm ET.
