Heading into the All-Star break, the one question every WNBA fan is asking is can anyone stop Las Vegas?
The defending champions have been on a tear, dominating the league and routinely beating opponents by 20 to 30 points. Their closest competition comes from the New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun, but right now Vegas is looking unbeatable. With the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game taking place in Sin City, it’s a safe bet that Aces players and their fans will definitely be feeling themselves all weekend. ESPN WNBA analyst LaChina Robinson spoke with The Root about what to expect from the game and the second half of the season.
“That’s the million dollar question. But right now, it just looks like nobody can really hang. The two teams that beat Vegas were Connecticut and the Dallas Wings…so it’s really about matchups. And to be honest, there are a lot of teams in the league that are much better than we expected,” Robinson told The Root. “We came into the season having a record number of transactions on WNBA rosters. Almost every team across the league had made major changes to their starting lineup, so we didn’t expect some of them to be as good as they are. You got to credit the rest of the field for putting themselves in position to compete with Vegas, though they do look like they’re trying to defend their championship.”
The game airs live on Saturday, July 15 at 8:30 p.m./5:30 p.m. PT on ABC, putting it in primetime for the first time. The Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and the Aces’ A’ja Wilson return as captains. Las Vegas has a very supportive fanbase, but this will probably be a Team Wilson crowd. Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner is back at the All-Star Game for the ninth time. Last season, when she was being wrongfully detained in Russia, to show their support, the players all wore No. 42 in the second half. Fans can definitely expect to hear a huge welcome for BG’s all-star return.
“To have her back at All-Star…that place is gonna go crazy. Interestingly, last year, the player that dunked in the game was Sylvia Fowles,” she said. “Maybe it’ll be Brittany to throw one down. It’ll be great to have BG back.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, it’s going to get very tight as teams fight for those eight playoff spots. While New York, Las Vegas, Connecticut and the Washington Mystics will likely make it into the postseason, the competition for the other four spots should get really interesting. Robinson is looking at three teams that fans should keep an eye on.
“Atlanta is playing with amazing momentum headed into the All-Star break. [Head coach] Latricia Trammell has done a great job in her first season. Arike [Ogunbowale], Satou [Sabally] and Natasha Howard are a really tough, big three to contend with,” Robinson said. “The Minnesota Lynx won five in a row before losing to Vegas…they finally got a point guard and that’s the kind of team that I thought would be in the playoff picture. The Atlanta Dream and Dallas are two teams that I expect to probably be in the playoff window. They are playing better than I expected. But it’s Minnesota that has surprised me as we get ready to hit the all-star break.”
The 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game airs live on Saturday, July 15 at 8:30 p.m./5:30 p.m. PT on ABC. WNBA Countdown airs before the game at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The Kia WNBA Skills Challenge and WNBA Starry 3-Point Contest airs at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on Friday, July 14 on ESPN.