Before the break, the W showed you just how great it is.
This weekend saw the 2024 WNBA All-star game hosted by Phoenix, Arizona for the third time.
The first game since heralded and hyped number one draft pick Caitlin Clark took the league by storm. The debut ASG for her and the fierce rivalry ignited with fellow top ten rookie Angel Reese.
We were always in for a show like no other.
Especially when CC and Barbie were playing on the same team.
It was all love, though…just like the game.
Making their mark in the Footprint Center, before stepping into France like fashion week for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Team USA played Team WNBA. But because the W is as wide as the reaching world, this was no tune-up game for the gold medal favourites. Looking to continue their medal streak, after taking the top of the podium in Tokyo for the 2020 games.
In a close contest that the NBA All-star games could sure take a cue from, Team WNBA beat the US women’s national team 117-109. Giving them a fever with the combined prescription of points and rebounds from Indiana’s top trio of players. Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark combined for 21 points and 12 rebounds in this balanced attack.
Close, but it wasn’t always that cigar, as the WNBA kept the USA at bay by as many as 20 points. It was Dallas Wing Arike Ogunbowale who took home the MVP honours in another career year. Hitting an All-star W record 34 points in the desert.
Drying up the defences like a cactus, Ogunbowale was outstanding. Jacking it up from everywhere. She was also the Most Valuable Player the last time the national team were beat by a dream WNBA one, preparing for the Olympics in 2021.
The stars were in full force, from Aubrey Plaza to ‘Ted Lasso’ himself, Jason Sudeikis, as Pitbull warmed up the crowd pre-game. The real ones were on the floor, though, like retired GOAT Sue Bird watching from the sidelines with soccer ace partner Megan Rapinoe.
“The momentum is at an all-time high when it comes to women’s basketball,” the All-star of All-stars, A’ja Wilson told the press. “And we’re going to continue to carry that torch, so the next generation can shine as bright as we are.”
It’s a torch that’s about to be carried across an ocean.
Everybody waits every four years for the Olympic Games, but you can be forgiven for forgetting Paris after nights like this.
