NEW YORK – Seattle Storm head coach Dan Hughes and Phoenix Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello have earned spots as the head coaches for Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018.  Hughes and Brondello will be joined on the bench by their respective coaching staffs at the 15^th WNBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Saturday, July 28 at Target Center in Minneapolis.  ABC will televise the game live at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT.

Under a revamped format for Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018, a pool of 22 All-Stars will be selected without regard for conference affiliation through voting by fans, current WNBA players and head coaches, and a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.  The two All-Stars who receive the highest overall vote totals will serve as team captains and draft their respective rosters from the remaining pool of 20 All-Stars.  Also new this year, the two head coaches whose teams have the best records through games on Friday, July 13 will lead the All-Star teams.

With Seattle (15-6, .714) having clinched the best record in the WNBA through July 13, Hughes will coach the All-Star team captained by the highest vote-getter.  Phoenix (14-7, .667) is guaranteed to have the second-best mark through July 13 after the Los Angeles Sparks’ 92-77 loss to the Dallas Wings today.  As a result, Brondello will guide the All-Star team captained by the second-highest vote-getter.

Hughes, a two-time WNBA Coach of the Year (2001, 2007), has earned All-Star head coaching honors for the second time.  As head coach of the San Antonio Stars, he led the Western Conference past the Eastern Conference 130-118 in the 2009 All-Star Game in Connecticut.

Brondello, the 2014 WNBA Coach of the Year, will also be an All-Star Game head coach for the second time.  She guided the Western Conference past the Eastern Conference 117-112 in the 2015 All-Star Game in Connecticut.  Brondello, whose five-year WNBA playing career included an All-Star selection in 1999, is the only former WNBA All-Star to serve as a head coach in the All-Star Game.

The 22 players selected for Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018 will be announced on Tuesday, July 17.  The captains will then draft their respective teams to form two 11-player rosters, which will be revealed on Thursday, July 19 on ESPN2 during a game between the Washington Mystics and Dallas Wings (8 p.m. ET tip-off).

On Friday, July 27, the All-Star team captains and head coaches will meet to determine the starters for Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018.  The starting lineups will be revealed that night on ESPN2 (7 p.m. ET) during a live telecast of the WNBA All-Star Welcome Reception in Minnesota.

WNBA All-Star Voting 2018 presented by Verizon tipped off on Tuesday, June 19 and will conclude at 11:59 p.m. ET tonight.  WNBA fans may submit one full ballot each day through WNBA.com (desktop or mobile) or the WNBA App (available on Android and iOS).  Fans may also vote for up to 10 players per day on Twitter.  All current WNBA players on team rosters are eligible to receive votes.  Additional details regarding voting can be found at wnba.com/vote/howto/.

For ticket information about Verizon WNBA All-Star 2018, fans may visit lynx.wnba.com/allstar/.