When the WNBA convenes in Las Vegas on Wednesday for its All-Star Game, it won't lack big names or hometown interest.
Four members of the Aces - two for the WNBA All-Stars, two for the U.S. National Team that's heading to Tokyo next week for the Olympics - will give the crowd plenty of rooting options. Liz Cambage and sixth woman Dearica Hamby are playing for the WNBA, while Chelsea Gray and A'ja Wilson represent the Stars and Stripes.
Hamby is coming off a 22-point, 12-rebound performance in Sunday's 95-79 win at Dallas, while Wilson stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists.
'Super-talented team'
"We're a super-talented team. Really one through 12. Talented, talented roster," Hamby told the Las Vegas Review-Journal . "Just figuring out how to play with each other, we've seen bits and pieces of what we're capable of. But there are some things we're going to have to tune up."
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That can wait for mid-August, when the WNBA season resumes following a month-long Olympic break. For now, the four Aces and 20 more of the best women's hoopsters in the world can focus on having fun and lighting up the scoreboard in the league's mid-season showcase.
Four of the league's top five scorers will don Team USA jerseys in Las Vegas, led by veteran Tina Charles (Washington) at 26.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Connecticut's Jonquel Jones (Bosnia and Herzegovina), averaging 21 points and a league-high 11.1 boards, plays for the WNBA stars and might be the MVP favourite at this stage.
Chicago point guard Courtney Vandersloot didn't make the Olympic cut, which is no shame in a country that still rosters Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi in addition to Gray. But Vandersloot enters this game as the league leader in assists (9.1) and steals (2.1).
Former WNBA greats Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson will serve as co-coaches of the league's team.
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