UConn Stars Shine Over WNBA All-Star Weekend
It took seven WNBA seasons over eight years, but Gabby Williams finally made her All-Star debut on Saturday, scoring 16 points and dishing out five assists as her Team Clark lost to Team Collier, 151-131.
The Seattle Storm veteran has come a long way, and not just in the league. As she told the media before the weekend’s festivities, the All-Star Game gave her a chance to play on the biggest stage alongside the very players she looked up to, even before her UConn days.
“It was kind of a weird moment when I was named an All-Star and everything because I had a full circle thing in my head,” she explained. “I used to go to Nneka [Ogwumike’s] camps, I forgot about that. I forgot how much I used to look up to [her and Skylar Diggins] and now I’m sharing spaces with them. They’ve just been two amazing friends since they joined the Storm and I’m just really lucky to have them in my life.”
In the All-Star Game, Williams got to play against them. Ogwumike and Diggins both showed out for Team Collier, with Ogwumike scoring 16 and Diggins dropping a triple-double off the bench in 21 minutes (11 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists).
Ogwumike and Diggins have also shown Williams that even as she approaches a decade out of college, she can still learn from the league’s other stars.
“I think I’ve learned that just being a good person, being a good teammate will get you really, really far,” Williams continued. “Who you are to the people in your circle is the most important.”
That’s not to say there was a time when she wasn’t a good teammate. As Williams put it, she just needed to learn how to direct her focus on what matters.
“When I was younger I worried a bit too much about what people from the outside were thinking,” she said. “[If] I can just be authentic in myself and authentic in my relationships, the better teammate and basketball player I will be.”
As for Diggins, she’s been both Williams’ opponent and teammate. This season, Williams is averaging career-bests in minutes (33.7), points (13.2), assists (4.4) and steals (2.4). This is also the first year that she has been in the W for the entire season since 2022.
“To see what she can do, I think we got to see glimpses of it at times, but now it's for stretches in where we rely on her, where maybe that hasn't been her position in the past, being first, second or third option,” Diggins said, per Hearst’s Maggie Vanoni. “Now we rely on her for that, for our team to be successful, just her being comfortable in those big moments, getting those big opportunities, and, you know, really delivering.”
Napheesa Collier Is Your MV-Phee
Napheesa Collier was more than the captain of her team. She turned in a historic performance to win the game’s MVP award in a season where she is the clear MVP frontrunner.
Collier went 13-16 from the field and finished with an All-Star Game record 36 points to go with nine rebounds.
It’s taken a while for Collier to force herself into the conversation as one of the best two or three players in the game. Her coach, Cheryl Reeve, did her best to explain why, saying she’s not the “physically imposing” presence like reigning MVP A’ja Wilson is.
“You have to sit there and watch it to go, `Oh wow,’” Reeve said, per Nancy Armour of USA Today. “Your eyes don't pop when you turn on the TV or you go to a game. Your eyes don't go to her physically. And I think that's a big part of it.”
Bueckers Makes Immediate Impact in All-Star Debut
With Caitlin Clark sidelined for the All-Star Game at her home arena, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese were the two most popular players of the weekend. The former UConn superstar made an immediate impact.
28 seconds into her first All-Star game, the rookie made a four-pointer to get Team Collier on the board. She made just one other field goal but dished out eight assists, seeming to take joy in getting her teammates involved.
“Just excitement. gratitude to be in positions and being surrounded with the best players in the world and just to be in this environment,” Bueckers said of the experience. “Just trying to get a win, whatever happens.”