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WNBA All Star Game reformatted: What you need to know

Howard Megdal|
SEATTLE, WA - JULY 22: Jonquel Jones #35 of the Eastern Conference All-Stars dunks the ball in the game against the Western Conference All-Stars during the 2017 Verizon WNBA All-Star game at KeyArena on July 22, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - JULY 22: Jonquel Jones #35 of the Eastern Conference All-Stars dunks the ball in the game against the Western Conference All-Stars during the 2017 Verizon WNBA All-Star game at KeyArena on July 22, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images)

A new setup for the WNBA’s jewel event promises even more fun and arguing, the essence of all sports.

The WNBA announced a dramatic change to its annual All Star Game on Tuesday, with significant fan input, a player draft, and a formalized doing away with conferences as a means of selecting players.

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Here’s what you need to know:

  1. First the fans vote for any ten players. Their votes are worth 40 percent of the total pool. A group of national sportswriters and broadcasters (spoiler alert, including, yes, me) will vote for 22 players, nine guards and 13 frontcourt players, and our vote is worth 20 percent. The WNBA coaches will do the same, votes worth 20 percent, as will the WNBA players, whose votes will count 20 percent.
  2. Then on July 17, the pool of 22 all stars will be announced. The two highest vote-getters will be captains, so that…
  3. …they can draft their teams. The league remained mum on details of this draft, but it is worth noting the NBA did this, in secret, and it was criticized by many as a missed opportunity. Count me among those hoping the WNBA learns from this and puts it on live television. And here’s hoping ESPN promotes it when they do.
  4. The starters will be announced on ESPN2 at 7 PM on July 27, during the WNBA All Star Welcome Reception, after a meeting of the captains and head coaches. The head coaches for the two teams will be the coaches with the best two records as of July 13.

Meanwhile, we’ll learn the All Star rosters on July 19, during the ESPN 2 broadcast between the Washington Mystics and the Dallas Wings. Presumably, the on-court reporter can ask Elena Delle Donne, Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins-Smith how they feel about receiving the honor, if current performance and past voting is any indication.

As for who benefits most from this? Let me nominate Western Conference centers. Without an artificial division by largely forsaken conferences, voters won’t have to choose between Cambage, Sylvia Fowles and Brittney Griner. Moreover, the frontcourt option eliminates the need to figure out whether Natasha Howard is a center, or how we categorize Breanna Stewart. (I’m still clinging to the idea that Elena Delle Donne should be called a two, but that’s another discussion for another time.)

As for the losers in all this, I guess perhaps the Connecticut Sun, who have a huge number of potential all stars in Alyssa Thomas, Jasmine Thomas, Jonquel Jones and even the resurgent Chiney Ogwumike and former all star Alex Bentley, but now have to outpace a group from the West as well, instead of merely the East.

Ultimately, this is a big win for the league. Anything that focuses more attention on the jewel event made up of the WNBA’s biggest stars, and stretches across several weeks of news cycles while making more people stakeholders in the decisions is an unmitigated victory. (Oh, and HINT: MAKE THE JERSEYS AVAILABLE RIGHT AWAY.)

The ultimate results will be on display Saturday, July 28 in Minneapolis, at the All Star Game itself.

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