​The announcement of WNBA All-Stars should be a moment of celebration, but it often devolves into a chorus of consternation. The immediate impulse isn’t to applaud those who were chosen; it’s to fixate on those who were overlooked. The snubs become the focal point as teammates, coaches, fans, and analysts airing grievances over who was slighted by the selection process. Here, we’re not immune to that tendency either. However, delivering a fair assessment of snubs requires more than lamenting whom you’d rather see invited. It also means identifying who would swap into those spots and whether the proposed swap would actually deserve consideration as a true snub.
Here’s how I view it. Jump into the comments with your own snubs and who you’d replace them with. Among the reserves, Sonia Citron, Rhyne Howard, Marina Mabrey, Kelsey Plum, Courtney Williams, and Jackie Young were named as the All-Star guard contingent. That leaves Brittney Sykes, Kahleah Copper, Veronica Burton, and Azzi Fudd on the outside looking in. As Edwin Garcia noted in his instant reaction to the reserves, the Toronto Tempo celebrated Mabrey’s selection, then immediately voiced their disappointment about Sykes’ snubbing on social media. Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts echoed that sentiment during his pregame press conference, expressing support for Copper.
If not for injury, Sykes likely would have presented a very strong case. Right before her absence, Beckett Harrison advocated for Sykes to be the Tempo’s first-ever All-Star. But she has since missed six games. In her absence, Mabrey has blossomed, highlighted by a 53-point performance that rings as a rallying exclamation point for her candid season. Sykes averaged over 20 points per game in her 15 appearances, yet her efficiency left room for improvement—shooting barely 42 percent from the field and just over 27 percent from three. High-volume scoring can be valuable, but it doesn’t automatically translate into an All-Star resume if efficiency lags. Mabrey, by contrast, is averaging around 21.1 points per game and is shooting 45.5 percent from the floor and nearly 40 percent from three, data that argues more consistently for a larger impact to the team’s success.
Copper’s candidacy is similarly undermined by scoring efficiency concerns. Copper is trending upward in scoring, with about 20.8 points per game, but she’s shooting 41 percent from the field and 27.1 percent from three. Her value—perhaps more than Sykes’s—rests largely on her scoring, making efficiency all the more crucial. You could argue for Copper if her shooting improved, but as things stand, the numbers aren’t clearly compelling enough to justify a spot over the reserve players already named.
Meanwhile, Breanna Gray’s numbers—18.5 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting from the field and 30.1 percent from three—pose a compelling counterpoint. One might wonder whether Sykes or Copper should supplant Gray, given similar scoring profiles, but team context matters. Gray’s Atlanta Dream sit at 12-9, and her per-game plus-minus sits at +4.9. By comparison, Sykes and Copper carry negative plus-minuses with teams hovering below .500. In a vacuum, the individual stat line can appear comparable, yet the broader impact on team success tilts the evaluation toward Gray in this particular debate.
All of this underscores a core truth about All-Star selections: they reflect a balance between individual statistics, shooting efficiency, and the surrounding context of team performance. A player can excel in scoring or highlight-reel moments but lose luster when efficiency slips or when the team’s results don’t align with a broader narrative of success. Conversely, a player who contributes in ways beyond raw stats—defense, playmaking, leadership, and defensive versatility—can strengthen a candidacy even if their point-per-game numbers aren’t eye-popping.
As discussions unfold, consider not only who you believe was snubbed, but who you’d replace them with and why. If a hypothetical swap would meaningfully improve a team’s overall impact, then the swap makes sense in a fairness framework. If not, then the snub might not be as clear-cut as it seems.
If you have snubs you’d advocate for and swaps you’d propose, share them in the comments. I’m curious to see which players you think belong in the All-Star mix and which reserve or starter deserve a closer look based on a holistic assessment of both numbers and team context.