NEW YORK – Former Kia WNBA MVPs A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm lead the voting after the first round of fan returns for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022.

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022 will be played at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, home of the defending WNBA Champion Chicago Sky, on Sunday, July 10 (ABC, noon CT/1 p.m. ET), and will be the centerpiece of a weekend full of WNBA activities.

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022 will feature the league’s biggest and brightest stars selected from across the WNBA without regard to conference affiliation.  Current WNBA players and a media panel are joining fans in selecting the All-Star starters.  Fans will account for 50 percent of the vote, while the players and media panel will account for 25 percent each.  Voters can select up to four guards and six frontcourt players on a ballot.  Fans can submit up to one full ballot per day (defined as once every 24 hours), while players and media panelists are able to complete one ballot.

Wilson, the 2020 Kia WNBA MVP, a three-time All-Star selection and the captain of Team Wilson for AT&T  WNBA All-Star 2019, leads all players with 21,688 votes. Stewart, the 2018 Kia WNBA MVP, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP and a three-time All-Star, is second with 20,866 votes.

Wilson and Stewart are followed in the fan voting by two-time Kia WNBA MVP and six-time All-Star Candace Parker of the Chicago Sky (17,475), 2021 Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year Kelsey Plum of the Aces (17,158), and two-time Kia WNBA MVP, six-time All-Star and captain of Team Delle Donne for the 2018 and 2019 AT&T WNBA All-Star Games, Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics (13,626).

Rounding out the top 10 vote-getters are 2017 Kia WNBA MVP and Finals MVP, seven-time All-Star and WNBA career rebounds leader Sylvia Fowles of the Minnesota Lynx (13,272), the league’s current No. 3 scorer Jackie Young of the Aces (12,222), 2016 Kia WNBA MVP and six-time All-Star selection, Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks (10,933), four-time WNBA champion and the league’s record-holder with 12 All-Star selections, Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm (9,299), and 2021 All-WNBA First Team selection and three-time All-Star Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm (9,268).

After all votes are tallied, players will be ranked by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes.  Each player’s score will be calculated by averaging their weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes.  The four guards and six frontcourt players with the best score will be named as starters for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022.  Fan voting will serve as the tiebreaker for players in a position group with the same score.

The 10 All-Star starters, including the two captains, will be revealed on Wednesday, June 22.  After the announcement of the starters, the league’s head coaches will select the 12 reserves.  The head coaches will vote for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference.  They may not vote for their own players.  The reserves will be announced on Tuesday, June 28.

The captains – the two All-Star starters who receive the most fan votes – will draft their respective rosters by selecting first from the remaining eight players in the pool of starters and then from the pool of 12 reserves.  ESPN will broadcast the WNBA All-Star Team Selection Special on Saturday, July 2 (3 p.m. ET).

See below for the leaders in the first returns of fan voting for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022:

A’ja Wilson, Frontcourt (LVA) 21,688
Breanna Stewart, Frontcourt (SEA) 20,866
Candace Parker, Frontcourt (CHI) 17,475
Kelsey Plum, Guard (LVA) 17,158
Elena Delle Donne, Frontcourt (WSH) 13,626
Sylvia Fowles, Frontcourt (MIN) 13,272
Jackie Young, Guard (LVA) 12,222
Nneka Ogwumike, Frontcourt (LAS) 10,933
Sue Bird, Guard (SEA) 9,299
Jewell Loyd, Guard (SEA) 9,268
Rhyne Howard, Guard (ATL) 8, 516
Dearica Hamby, Frontcourt (LVA) 7,555
Courtney Vandersloot, Guard (CHI) 7,405
Jonquel Jones, Frontcourt (CON) 7,145
Diana Taurasi, Guard (PHO) 6,856
Skylar Diggins-Smith, Guard (PHO) 6,644
Kahleah Copper, Guard (CHI) 6,387
Alyssa Thomas, Frontcourt (CON) 5,812
Sabrina Ionescu, Guard (NYL) 5,710
Arike Ogunbowale, Guard (DAL) 5,536
Kelsey Mitchell, Guard (IND) 5,385
Liz Cambage, Frontcourt (LAS) 5,010
Tina Charles, Frontcourt (PHO) 4,638
DeWanna Bonner, Frontcourt (CON) 4,341
Chelsea Gray, Guard (LVA) 4,287
Ezi Magbegor, Frontcourt (SEA) 4,268
Brittney Griner, Frontcourt (PHO) 3,838
Diamond DeShields, Guard (PHO) 3,600
Shakira Austin, Frontcourt (WAS) 3,453
Natasha Cloud, Guard (WAS) 3,280

The fan voting period includes “2-for-1 Days” on June 14 and June 18 that allow fans to have their votes count twice via the WNBA.com, WNBA App, and Twitter voting platforms.  Each “2-for-1 Day” will be designated from midnight ET – 11:59 p.m. ET.  Fan voting for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022 will conclude on Monday, June 20 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

 How to vote:

• Desktop and mobile web: To vote online from a desktop or mobile device, fans should visit the official WNBA All-Star 2022 ballot page at vote.wnba.com.  Fans may vote for a minimum of one player and maximum of 10, through submitting one full ballot per day (defined as once every 24 hours) including the selection of up to four guards and six frontcourt players regardless of conference.

• WNBA App: To vote through the WNBA App using iOS or Android devices, fans must visit the WNBA All-Star Voting ballot page via the menu options in the top left corner of the App. Fans may vote for a minimum of one player and maximum of 10, through submitting one full ballot per day (defined as once every 24 hours) including the selection of up to four guards and six frontcourt players regardless of conference. The WNBA App can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

• Twitter: Fans may tweet, retweet, or reply with a hashtag of a WNBA player’s first and last name (#FirstNameLastName) or Twitter handle. Tweets must include the WNBA All-Star hashtag – #WNBAAllStar – in order to be valid. Each individual tweet may include only one player’s name or handle. Fans may submit a maximum of 10 unique player valid votes per Twitter handle per day (defined as once every 24 hours). Each of the up to 10 votes per day must be for a different WNBA player. Fans voting via a Twitter account must have the “protect my tweets” option unchecked in the settings of their Twitter account.

The head coaches for the AT&T WNBA All-Star 2022 will be the head coaches of the two teams regardless of conference with the best records following games on Friday, June 24.  The head coach with the best record as of that date will coach the team whose captain earned the most fan votes.

Tickets for the 2022 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game may be purchased through Ticketmaster.com or through the Wintrust Arena box office.

About the WNBA
The WNBA, which tipped off its 26^th season on May 6, 2022, is a bold, progressive basketball league that stands for the power of women.  Featuring 12 teams, the W is a unique sports property that combines competition and entertainment with a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and social responsibility.  Through its world-class athletes, the in-game fan experience, TV and digital broadcasts, digital and social content and community outreach programs, the league celebrates and elevates the game of basketball and the culture around it.

In 2020, the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) signed a groundbreaking eight-year CBA that charts a new course for women’s basketball – and women’s sports overall – with a focus on increased player compensation, improvements to the player experience, expanded career development opportunities and resources specifically tailored to the female professional athlete.  Key elements of the agreement are supported through the league’s partnership platform, WNBA Changemakers, with AT&T, the WNBA’s Marquee Partner and inaugural Changemaker, as well as fellow inaugural Changemakers Deloitte and NIKE, Inc, and subsequent additions Google and U.S. Bank.  During the 2020 season, the WNBA and WNBPA launched the WNBA Justice Movement forming the Social Justice Council with the mission of being a driving force of necessary change and continuing conversations about race and voting rights, among other important societal issues.