WNBA players rank Caitlin Clark 9th best All-Star guard despite leading fan voting

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The WNBA announced the remaining eight starters for the 2025 All-Star Game after it was revealed Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and Minnesota Lynx leader Napheesa Collier will be this year’s captains.

While looking over the overall scores following the voting process, Clark’s position among her peers seemed surprising.

There are three voting groups for the WNBA All-Star process: fan rank, media rank and player rank for the guards and frontcourt players. While Clark was first in fan votes, and third among the media, her fellow WNBA players ranked her ninth among the guards.

Clark finished second among all players largely because fan votes account for 50% of the votes to determine starters. But it was Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft earlier this year, taking the top spot after finishing second in fan rank, fifth in media rank and fourth in player rank among the guards.

The Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray, one of the WNBA All-Star starters, finished first in media rank and player rank, while players like Seattle’s Skylar Diggins, New York’s Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud, Washington’s Brittney Sykes and more finished above Clark in terms of player rank.

FEVER STAR CAITLIN CLARK NAMED CAPTAIN FOR 2025 WNBA ALL-STAR GAME AFTER RECEIVING OVER 1 MILLION VOTES

Perhaps a main reason why Clark’s peers ranked her so low among guards is due to playing only nine of the Fever’s 16 games this season. Clark has been dealing with injuries in her sophomore season, which continues now as she’s missed the last two games.

Clark had been struggling lately as well, going just 13-of-47 from three-point territory in her last three games.

Still, Clark is averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 assists, five rebounds and 1.6 steals over 33.3 minutes per game this season. Only the Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas — who could be among the 12 All-Star Game reserves, which will be selected by the league’s head coaches and announced this Sunday — has more assists per game (9.3), and she’s touched the hardwood in 12 contests this season.

Clark received 1,293,526 votes from the fans.

While Clark has been integral in the rise of the WNBA’s popularity since breaking rookie and league records last season with the Fever, there have been many contentious moments over that span of games with opponents.

This season, a physical altercation broke out against the Connecticut Sun, during which Clark was hit in the face and shoved to the ground during a play. Later in the game, Clark’s teammate, Sophie Cunningham, retaliated against Sun guard Jacy Sheldon in another scuffle that led to ejections.

And, of course, Clark was the center of national sports conversation after instances against the Sun, Chicago Sky and others.

But Clark and Collier will be the ones drafting players to their All-Star squads, and now they know who will be starting with them at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Clark’s Fever home, on July 19.