Elena Delle Donne, Shakira Austin, and GG Banks Win First WNBA Shooting Stars
· Yahoo Sports
CHICAGO — Elena Delle Donne, Shakira Austin, and Jezelle "GG" Banks scored 31 points in the final round to win the first Kia WNBA Shooting Stars competition on Friday night at Wintrust Arena.
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The trio, competing as Team Washington, beat Team Seattle, which scored 24 in the final round.
The competition replaced the Skills Challenge as part of the league's 30th season. Four teams of three competed, each pairing a retired player, a current player, and a high school player from the Nike EYBL circuit. Teams had one minute and 10 seconds to score from seven locations on the floor.
Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon, the honorary general managers for Saturday's All-Star Game, served as designated passers. Cooper fed two teams and Weatherspoon fed the other two.
Washington led the first round with 35 points. Team Dallas/Detroit followed with 20 after missing every half-court attempt, and Team Minnesota finished the round with 19. Seattle advanced with 26, making two shots from half-court to pass Dallas/Detroit.
Seattle shot first in the final round and lost about four seconds on slow passing at the basket, with Storm guard Flau'jae Johnson calling for Weatherspoon to speed up. Washington answered with 31.
Delle Donne, a two-time MVP, will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next month in a class that includes Candace Parker. Austin, a Washington Mystics center, was an All-Rookie Team selection in 2022.
Seattle's roster paired three-time MVP Lauren Jackson with Johnson and high school player Tatianna Griffin. Minnesota's team included five-time champion Rebekkah Brunson, Lynx guard Courtney Williams, and Ryan Carter. Three-time champion Deanna "Tweety" Nolan represented Dallas and Detroit alongside Wings forward Jessica Shepard and Morghan Reckley. The Wings franchise began as the Detroit Shock.
The format is adapted from the NBA competition, which Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkins, and Swin Cash won three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015. The NBA revived the event at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles earlier this year using two current players and one retired player per team. The WNBA version substituted a high school player for the third roster spot.
SCORES: Round 1 — Washington 35, Seattle 26, Dallas/Detroit 20, Minnesota 19. Round 2 — Washington 31, Seattle 24.
Aflac is paying out an additional $85,000 across the skills competition. The collective bargaining agreement contains no language specifying how Shooting Stars prize money is distributed. Players received $2,575 for appearing in last year's All-Star Game and the same amount for winning a skills event. All-Star MVP Napheesa Collier earned $5,150.
The Shooting Stars competition was followed Friday by the 3-Point Contest, won by Wings rookie Azzi Fudd.
UP NEXT: Team Coop plays Team Spoon in the All-Star Game on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET at the United Center on ABC.