Liberty Pair Named WNBA All-Star Game Starters
Two members of the New York Liberty have caught All-Star fever.
Metropolitan hardwood icons Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart are on their way to the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, as the Brooklyn duo was part of an eight-woman contingent revealed on Monday during ESPN's NBA free agency special.
This season's All-Star Game, set for July 19 in Indianapolis, will revert back to a "fantasy draft"-style format after a team of WNBA standouts defeated the United States' women's national basketball team in last year's edition in Phoenix. Teams will chosen by captains Caitlin Clark (Indiana) and Napheesa Collier (Minnesota).
Ionescu and Stewart will appear in the starting lineup alongside Aliyah Boston (Indiana), Paige Bueckers (Dallas), Allisha Gray (Atlanta), Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle), and A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas).
Stewart, set to enter her seventh All-Star Game, will no doubt draw the attention of Collier, as the two Finals foes and University of Connecticut alumnae united to form "Unrivaled," a domestic three-on-three league that was stationed in Miami.
Entering this week, Stewart is one of four players averaging at least 20 points a game this season alongside Collier, Wilson, and Kelsey Plum (Los Angeles). Stewart previously served as the captain and team curator of All-Star teams in 2022 and 2023, splitting that pair against squads repped by Wilson.
While her early success has been partly interrupted by a nagging neck injury, Ionescu earned her fourth consecutive All-Star nod after a scorching scoring start to the season.
Time will tell if Ionescu, who still ranks in the top 10 in both points (18.6) and assists (5.1) per game, returns to the WNBA's Three-Point Contest, which is perhaps best-known for her 37-point showing in the final round of 2023's edition in Las Vegas that set a record for both genders. If Ionescu partook, she would have a chance to become the second-time two-time winner of the event next to retired Chicago Sky legend Allie Quigley.
This is the fourth consecutive WNBA All-Star Game to feature multiple New Yorkers. Last season, Ionescu and Stewart repped Team USA while Jonquel Jones suited up for the WNBA team.
Reserves for the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game will be revealed on the WNBA's social media platforms on Sunday at noon ET with the results of Clark and Collier's draft revealed during "WNBA Countdown" on ESPN two days later.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.