​Caitlin Clark finished 11th among WNBA guards in this season’s All-Star voting as decided by players, a fact that has drawn pointed commentary from Candace Parker, a longtime WNBA star and current Prime Video game and studio analyst. Clark has missed three games and Indiana Fever have spent much of the year hovering around .500, yet the star point guard is producing career highs in scoring and a personal best 43 percent shooting from the field, while also posting a career-low in turnovers per game.
In the end, Clark earned a starting role thanks to her strong showing in the fan vote (No. 2) and media vote (No. 3). But Parker argues that players’ opinions about Clark go beyond straightforward statistics. “You’ve got some insecurities if you’re sitting down and putting Caitlin Clark as the 11th-best guard,” Parker told the Post Moves podcast, which she cohosts with Aliyah Boston, Clark’s Fever teammate. “Y’all need to go to a therapist and figure out what childhood issues you have.”
Parker did not stop at Clark’s lower-than-expected ranking in the player vote. She also pointed to Los Angeles’ Kelsey Plum finishing 12th, another outcome Parker found perplexing. Boston and fellow Fever star Kelsey Mitchell, both of whom were All-Star starters this year, also trailed far behind the other starters in the player vote, a discrepancy that drew widespread online scrutiny.
“I wholeheartedly believe that there needs to be some rules with the WNBA players, because this is getting out of hand,” Parker said. “Caitlin Clark voted the 11th-best guard by WNBA players, that’s crazy.” The Athletic later reported that the Los Angeles Sparks did not distribute All-Star voting ballots to their players, a lapse that could help explain Plum’s unexpectedly low finish and potentially influenced how the Fever stars were ranked.
Parker even floated a potential voting guardrail: a rule prohibiting players from voting for teammates. While that could shield certain biases, it’s reasonable to assume that Indiana’s trio would have faced even stronger opposition from outside votes were it not for input from Fever players. As tensions surrounding Clark’s relationship with the Fever and the broader league continue to surface this season, Parker stands out as the most prominent analyst to challenge what she views as a flawed All-Star voting process this year.
The discussion around Clark’s ranking and the voting process has become a focal point in the ongoing conversation about fairness and integrity in WNBA All-Star selections. Parker’s public critique adds to the chorus of voices calling for a review of how players cast votes and how ballots are distributed across teams, with the aim of ensuring the process reflects broader respect for players’ achievement and impact on the court. The ongoing debate highlights the broader question of how to balance fan enthusiasm, media perspectives, and player votes in shaping a fair, credible All-Star roster.
The conversation around Caitlin Clark’s All-Star standing continues to unfold, drawing attention to how voting mechanics and intra-league dynamics can influence recognition in one of the WNBA’s most high-profile showcases. The discussions sparked by Parker’s comments reflect a broader concern about ensuring that All-Star selections accurately reflect performance while minimizing potential biases and procedural gaps that could distort the final rosters.