The WNBA All-Star Starters Named — Cue the Snub Tears

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The WNBA All-Star Starters List Is Set — Now Let’s Argue About the Snubs

We love drama almost as much as a game-winning buzzer-beater in the WNBA, and the 2025 All-Star starters delivered just that.

But let’s be real — it’s always the snubs that fuel the hottest Twitter beefs. This year, some legit names got left off the starting roster, and it’s time to put their case on blast. From gritty rebound queens to clutch shotmakers, playmaking forwards, these players didn’t get their due.

So buckle up, because here’s some names who got passed over and why it’s a travesty.

Alyssa Thomas — The Triple-Double Machine Left Out in the Cold

Alyssa Thomas has been terrorizing box scores like it’s her side hustle. She’s averaging 14.8 points, 7.3 boards, 9.3 assists, and 1.4 steals — and somehow she’s not an All-Star starter?

What are we doing here? Voting with blindfolds?

Thomas’ is basically Phoenix’s walking triple-double. No threes, no flash, just grown-woman buckets and bully-ball. She’ll back you down, rip your soul out, and jog back like nothing happened. No emojis, all flexing and straight pain.

Phoenix is 12-5, second in the West, and top 5 in damn near every advanced stat. Offense? Cooking. Defense? Clamped. Net rating? +5.5. You know who’s holding all that together? Alyssa.

Thomas doesn’t care about Instagram. She cares about impact.

So give her the starter spot, or go ahead and admit you only vote for people with TikTok edits and tunnel fits.

Skylar Diggins-Smith — The Veteran Playmaker Nobody Picked

Seattle’s Skylar Diggins has been cooking.

Quietly, professionally, like a vet who’s done this before — because she has. Diggins is putting up 15.0 points and 6.1 assists a night on 46% from the field and a scorching 41% from three. But somehow? No starter spot. Arguably the best two-way guard in the league.

Diggins ranked 9th in fan voting among guards — which is wild, considering she’s playoff-tested, clutch as hell, and running Seattle’s offense like a damn conductor. Seattle’s team is 10-7, 3rd in the West, and moving with one of the fastest paces in the league. Does someone think that’s happening without her?

Seattle’s rocking a +3.6 net rating with Skylar playing nearly 33 minutes a night. She’s basically their GPS, traffic cop, and getaway driver — and somehow got overshadowed by TikTok crossovers and shiny-new-rookie hype.

Sky’s a grown woman playing chess while people are voting like it’s prom.

Diggins should’ve been a starter. Point blank.

Kelsey Plum — The Sparks’ Secret Weapon Left Out

Kelsey Plum is averaging over 20 a night, playing 36 minutes a game, hitting nearly 6 free throws with 90% accuracy — and somehow she’s not an All-Star starter? Make it make sense.

Yeah, Los Angeles is 5-12 and the vibes are weird. But don’t blame Plum — blame the defense (11th in the league) and the fact that the Sparks are currently playing like they miss Candace Parker more than they admit in public.

Plum’s still torching people. 20.6 PPG, 5.6 assists, 1.5 steals, and raining 2.5 threes a game, even while shooting a human 7.4 attempts per night. Plum’s true crime? Playing the same position as Caitlin, Paige, and Sabrina.

The voting math got real dumb, real fast. And if you actually watch the games instead of just scrolling highlights, it’s obvious: Plum’s a snub.

A loud, 20-point-every-night snub.

Brittney Sykes — The Clutch Defender No One Talks About

Brittney Sykes is a straight-up menace on defense and still finds time to hit clutch threes like it’s nothing.

Sykes is averaging 18.6 PPG, nearly 5 assists, and shooting 40% from deep — but somehow the All-Star convo skipped right over her like a broken Spotify ad.

She’s the ultimate under-the-radar hooper. A walking steal. A fourth-quarter problem. But in a league obsessed with tunnel fits and who went viral on Tuesday, defense gets treated like a group project no one wants to do.

Other players are getting all the buzz. Meanwhile, Sykes is out here picking pockets and leading teh Washington Mystics like she’s playing on mute. Washington’s not flashy — they’re 8-9 with the 11th-ranked offense — but don’t blame Sykes. She’s the one keeping them in games.

If defense actually won All-Star votes, she’d be starting.

But hey, maybe next year people will reward players who guard AND score.

Jackie Young — The Aces’ Bench Bolt Who Didn’t Make The Cut

Jackie Young’s stat lines haven’t been as loud this year, but don’t get it twisted — she’s still a walking problem.

18 points per game, shooting 44% from the field, 91% from the line, and playing 31 minutes a night on a team that’s… kinda mid right now.

Las Vegas is 8-8 and weirdly allergic to offense (9th in points per game, 8th in offensive rating), but Jackie’s not the problem. She’s the one duct-taping this thing together when A’ja’s not cooking. Young defends, she pushes pace, she takes heat-check threes like she’s still at Notre Dame.

Her biggest crime? Being surrounded by too many damn guards. This year’s voting was a Hunger Games of backcourt buzz — Clark, Bueckers, Ionescu, Plum — all fighting for clicks, likes, and sympathy ballots. Jackie flew under the radar because she’s not loud. She’s just good.

Should she have been a starter? Maybe, maybe not. It’s a conversation.

You don’t leave 18 points and elite energy on the bench unless you’re asking to lose.

Angel Reese — Popularity Didn’t Seal The Deal

Angel Reese is a WNBA superstar.

Reese is one of the biggest names in professional sports, pop culture and the WNBA. A walking double-double, and the reason half of Chicago Sky TikTok even exists — and somehow she still didn’t crack the All-Star starting lineup?

Reese didn’t finish top 4 in fan votes, didn’t get love from the media or players, and got boxed out by a frontcourt stacked like TSA the night before All-Star Weekend. Even with her 12.4 points, 12.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and that signature “I’m gonna outwork you and talk sh*t while doing it” energy — she got squeezed out.

Yeah, the Sky are 5-11 with the worst net rating in the league (-11.3), but let’s be real: without Angel, they’d be somewhere in the G League. Reese is leading the entire WNBA in boards, grabbing over 12 per game with, 4.3 offensive rebounds per game like she’s personally offended the rim didn’t give her a call back.

She plays hard, plays loud, and brings edge to every single game — and fans wanted to see that on the All-Star stage. Instead, we got snubbed too.

voting system rigged?!?

Let’s be honest: the All-Star voting system stays messy. Half fan hype, half media politics, half vibes — yeah, that’s three halves, and it still doesn’t add up.

This year’s snubs prove the same thing every season: if you’re not trending, dunking, or starring in a Hulu doc, your impact might not get the spotlight it deserves. Box score killers, defensive dogs, veteran floor generals — all got left out while the timeline chased shiny new toys.

But hey, this is what keeps the W buzzing. The snubs. The debates. The unhinged group chats and the 3 a.m. “HOW DID ALYSSA THOMAS NOT GET IN?” tweets.

Coaches still have a chance to fix some of it with the reserve picks — but until then, keep the takes spicy, the receipts saved, and the Twitter fingers flying.

Because nothing says growing the game like screaming on the internet about why your favorite hooper got robbed.

 

D'Joumbarey Moreau

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