My WNBA 2026 All-Star Picks

We lay out our WNBA 2026 All-Star expectations by breaking down the GMs, coaches, full rosters, and the matchups that should decide the ending. We also make our All-Star MVP pick, name the scorers who could steal it, and close with fun WNBA All-Star history that changes how you look at the awards. 
• Teresa Weatherspoon vs Cynthia Cooper as contrasting GM archetypes built on defense and buckets 
• Why Cheryl Reeve and Becky Hammon land the coaching spots based on standings 
• Team Spoon roster strengths, name recognition, and rebounding advantage 
• Team Coop roster fit, two-way versatility, and perimeter defense edge 
• Why we lean Team Coop if the game stays close late 
• MVP prediction for Kelsey Mitchell plus other realistic MVP paths 
• Surprising All-Star MVP facts about A’ja Wilson and Diana Taurasi 
• All-Star MVP leaders Maya Moore and Lisa Leslie and what that implies 
• Sue Bird’s All-Star selection records and Nneka Ogwumike’s climb 
• West’s historical win rate and the Connecticut Sun hosting note 
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Transcript

Welcome And Quick Housekeeping

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey and as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're gonna talk about my WNBA 2026 All-Star Expectations. But before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. Trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. And if you wonder where you heard this before, that's because you've been listening with me Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I greatly appreciate your support.

GMs With Two Different Philosophies

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Now, off top, let's go ahead and talk about some of the GMs, shall we? Well, the GMs, the coaches, the player selections, and then also my predictions for the game, predictions for the MVP, and then a couple fun facts. Now, the GMs are as follows Teresa Weatherspoon and Cynthia Cooper. And if you don't know who these ladies are, ladies and gentlemen, these are two bona fide players, uh polar opposites, if you will, right? Teresa Weatherspoon. Like the show is called Get a Bucket. Matter of fact, let's start with Cynthia Cooper because the show is called Get a Bucket. And this is the first MVP of the league. Right? Matter of fact, she won the first two MVPs of the WNBA. And and she fought she 5'10, right? I'm talking about scoring titles three seasons in a row, holds the record for four final MVPs. And I mean, her career average, bro, she in like she like 21 to some change for the career like points per game. That might be the highest point per game score in the history. So when we're talking about the definition of getting a bucket, ladies and gentlemen, Cynthia Cooper is one of them ones. And and and and and keep in mind, too, if she came in a little younger, she might have been dominant a little longer, too. Like she can hoop, bro. She can get a bucket for sure. But then Teresa Weatherspoon, I talked about the MVP. Teresa was the first D-poy. But not just was she the first depoy, she won that thing two times in a row. So, and and here's the crazy thing. At 5'8, she won D-poy, and she currently holds the WNBA record in terms of averaging steals in a season, and that's 3.33. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I told y'all two polar opposites in terms of players, right? One can get a bucket, the other one could get a bucket, but was better at stopping players from getting a bucket. So again, it's cool that they're the GMs because they have their own philosophies and styles on who to select for the all-star game.

How The All-Star Coaches Landed Here

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Now, keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen, we have two wonderful coaches, and usually the coaches are broken down based on the record, right? The standings, right? Who's who's number one? Who's number two? Well, right now, the Minnesota Lynx are number one, and the aces are number two. Hence why Cheryl Reeves is the coach, and Becky Hammond is the coach. Now, Reeves is for Team Spoon, right? And then Becky is for Team Coop. Who's gonna win this matchup? Well, let's talk about the rosters, shall

Team Spoon And Team Coop Rosters

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we? So for Team Spoon, right? Cheryl Reeves is gonna be coaching Caitlin Clark, Asia Wilson, Olivia Miles, Aliah Boston, oops, my bad, Jessica Shepard, Ryan Howard, Alicia Gray, John Quell Jones, Courtney Williams, Kiki Erieffen, and Nekka Agumake. Becky Hammond will be coaching Paige Beckers, Brianna Stewart, Kelsey Mitchell, Natasha Howard, Gabby Williams, Angel Reese, Marina Maybury, Dominique Malonga, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Sonia Sitrone. All these women deserve to be up here. And matter of fact, some people could be injured, so maybe we get some alternates, right? Let's see what happens with Kelsey Plum, because I think she was supposed to be coming back around the 24th, anyways. So what happens if she does come back? Let's see what happens. But we're probably gonna get some alternates, right?

Matchup Keys And Who Wins

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Who do I expect to win? Well, off top, I think Shell Reeves and Team Spoon, they do have more notable names, right? Like I think people recognize Asia Wilson, of course, Ryan Howard, Alicia Gray, John Quell Jones, Courtney Williams, NECA Goumake, Caitlin Clark, right? Like you got Olivia Miles, even Aliyah Boston. These are notable names. And I'm talking about, although this doesn't count for Olivia because she just came into the scene this year as a rookie year. But everybody last year that I just mentioned was pretty much in here, bro. Like they was, they they they they they they they're notable, okay? But on the flip side, Team Coop, coached by Becky, I don't know, man. That starting unit might be better than Cheryl Reeve and Team Spoon. Okay? And here's the thing: if Becky can coach her girls to keep the game close, I might actually expect them to win. Because when I'm looking at the starting lineup, right, I got Paige Beckers versus Caitlin Clark, Brianna Stewart versus Asia Wilson, Kelsey Mitchell versus Olivia Miles, Natasha Howard versus Aaliyah Balston, and Gabby Williams versus Jessica Shepard. And while Team Spoon does have the advantage rebounding wise, right? You got Asia Wilson, Aaliyah Boston, Jessica Shepard. It ain't like Brianna Stewart, Natasha Howard, and Gabby Williams can't one defend and two rebound. So, yes, you might think, oh yeah, they got the lead, they got the advantage. They should win. Not to mention Jessica Shepard playing good basketball right now, and pairing that up with Paige Becker's Paige looking pretty smooth too. Well, Paige looked smooth last year. But what happens if we get that same action with Caitlin Clark and Olivia Miles? Stuff like that. Like Asia Wilson and Aaliyah Boston, two premier bigs in the league. Well, on Team Coop's team, I do think that their team actually boasts some good scores, some good defenders, some versatility. And I think they fit better on the floor than Team Spoon does. So for me, if I'm looking at these lineups right now, granted, don't get me wrong, because it's not just starting fives. We got to talk about the bench, right? Who's the best player on the bench for Team Spoon? We can argue Ryan Howard. We could argue Alicia Gray, Jonquell Jones, NECA, Aguma K. There's a couple of options. Meanwhile, on Team Coop, we got here Jackie Young off top, which I personally thought she could have been a starter. So of course, she's gonna be my go-to in terms of answer. But we again we still got Angel Reese, Marina Mayrie. Like, you got a couple of options, ladies and gentlemen. So again, for me, obviously it's a jump ball because these teams are pretty stout. But if I had to choose right now point in time, I gotta go team coop. Because I like defensive-minded individuals who can also get a bucket. And I'm not saying that Team Spoon don't have that. I'm just saying I think Team Coop got a little more, got a little more two-way players on their team, if that makes sense. Which is weird too, because they got Ryan Howard, they got Alicia Gray, John Quell Jones is a two-way player, Courtney Williams is a two-way player, NECA Gumake is a two-way player. So is Sonya Citron, though, on Team Coop, Jackie Young, Dominique Malonga, Angel Reese is a two-way player. So again, I like Team Coop over Team Spoon. And for me, when I'm looking at the lineups, well, again, if they keep it close, how does the ending look? I gotta lean Team Coop personally. Because when I'm looking at this, I think Kelsey Mitchell can go off against Olivia Miles. I think Paige Beckers will go off against Caitlin Clark if she's guarding her. Yes, Asia Wilson can go off, but also so could Brianna Stewart. Yes, Aaliyah Boston could go off, but so could Natasha Howard. And I think Gabby Williams is the best defender listed, period, point blank, especially on the perimeter. So for me, I gotta go Team Coop on this one personally. But again, if they keep it close, especially going into the fourth quarter, that's where I think Team Coop will shine. But that's my selection thus far.

All-Star MVP Prediction And Sleepers

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And so now we gotta talk about here the all-star prediction, ladies and gentlemen. We could mention Asia Wilson, right? She averaged about 26, 25, 26 points a game. Brandon Stewart, you know, we got the usual suspects. Hell, if Nafisa Collier was playing, she probably would be in here too. And that may be another person that you could put in here. Because she also holds the scoring title in the All-Star game with 36 points. So for me, I'm gonna say right now, off top, I don't know if I'm gonna put Asia or Brianna Stewart for the MVP predictions. Because again, that feels too easy, right? I'm gonna say Kelsey Mitchell. And the reason why I say Kelsey Mitchell, again, that's my favorite right now. Because she's averaging 23 points a game, 49% from the field, 42% from the three-point line, 87% from the three-point line. She's pretty stout, and she she has a routine that she continues to do over and over and over again. And ladies and gentlemen, that speaks volumes. Don't get me wrong, WNBA players do that. Athletes, professional players do that for sure. But she consistently does that to the point that even her peers acknowledge her routine is pretty systematic. Like she wants to be perfect. No one's ever perfect, but she wants to be perfect, and that's how she practiced, and practice makes perfect. So I'm leaning at Kelsey, I'm looking at Kelsey Mitchell being all-star MVP. That's my prediction right now. You also got a couple, a couple other players, right? We could say Alicia Gray, because again, she can get hot. And if she gets hot, we've already seen her do well in other performances, right? Ryan Howard can get hot. Although sometimes I feel like she settles sometimes. Okay. Jackie Young, she just had 35 points in the Commissioner Cup title game. So that's another thing to note. Courtney Williams, spark plug. She can get hot real quick, ladies and gentlemen. So if she's hot, there's a chance. Same thing with Marina Mabry. She just had 53 points in one game this season. And that tied the most in WNBA history. And then finally, I gotta go Paige Becker's. Because the opposing defenders can get cooked. Now, to be fair, we can say that about anybody, but if we're going at if we're thinking about the game at the end, Paige is probably gonna have the basketball in her hands, especially with the team that she has. Stewie's the best, the second best playmaker on Team Coop's starting lineup. So with that being said, there's a good chance that Paige Beckers could get some buckets out there, ladies and gentlemen. So that's my I listed seven names, technically nine because of Asia and Brianna Stewart, but I personally like Kelsey Mitchell leading the helm right now for my MVP prediction. And I think it's pretty smooth. I think it's like I'd be I'm not gonna be surprised if she doesn't win it. I just wouldn't be surprised if she does win it. But again, there's a lot of people to consider for this. It's actually surprising

Fun Facts About All-Star History

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though. We're gonna make a transition onto the fun facts. Because as I say this, right, it it's gonna surprise some of y'all. Asia Wilson hasn't won an all-star MVP. And I started thinking about this, right? Like, okay, well, you know, she's considered the GOAT by some people. How dare she not win an all-star MVP? Like Jordan won one, Kobe won one. Like, we've seen those, right? But then I had to think about it. People call Diana Tarasi the GOAT, too, the white mamba. And Diana Tarasi has never won an all-star MVP. So then that got me thinking, well, who does actually have the most MVPs in the All-Star game? Because if DT can't win one, what's going on? And right now, Maya Moore and Lisa Leslie are tied with three All-Star MVP awards. Okay. Now, to be clear, Maya Moore is the only person to win three All-Star MVPs in a row. And to be clear, it could have been four if the 2016 Summer Olympic Games hadn't occurred. Okay? Like that would have been pretty spectacular, okay? Lisa Leslie, notable because she was the first All-Star MVP. Pretty spectacular. And fun fact, even though she's not in the games but she's still playing, Arique has won two of them things. And so has Swin Cash. So if you was wondering who has won the most MVPs in the All-Star game, you just got your answer. Now, who might have a who might have participated in the most all-star games, right? Well, that would be Sue Bird, ladies and gentlemen. Again, we still have the fun facts, right? Sue Bird has the most all-star selections, which is 13. And the most starter selections, which is at nine. So, in case y'all didn't know that, shout out to NECA Gumake for moving into second place. Tying with DT. I want to say at 12. Or was it 11? I think 12. So NECA on her way to potentially tying Sue Bird. And I think that's very doable for her, too, as well. That also speaks to her longevity, good stuff. So shout out to NECA. If you're wondering who's typically won the All-Star selection, the All-Star Games, well, although this is usually this is now a mixture, right? You get West and Eastern players. The West usually used to win. And matter of fact, they won at a pretty decent rate. 10-4. Out of 14 games, the West won 10 games. That's pretty spectacular. So kudos to the West. You know what I'm saying? It's usually the Western teams that are the better teams. Even in that that happens in the NBA as well. That's what's crazy to think about it. It's I don't know. It's something. It's just something about the West, bro. I don't know what to tell you. Which team, which organization has actually hosted the most all-star games? Well, that would be the Connecticut Sun, which ironically they're getting ready to change back to the Houston Rockets, but or the Houston Comets, but they have hosted this four times. So it's a shame that we're not going to see the Connecticut Sun host an all-star game again. But again, to be fair, they also have hosted it the most times, so I I guess it was broke because they fixing it. Like that's it's is you know just a nice little fun fact, right? And again, I told you all, Teresa Weatherspoon won the first two seasons as D-poy, right? Just giving you some fun facts right quick. She was 5'8, which I'm actually really looking forward to seeing that happen. Like, I didn't think like alright, so I'm gonna just go off on a little tangent right quick. It's pretty impressive if somebody is actually winning depoy and is under, like, I'm gonna say 5'10, okay? It it's it's it's it's it's it's it's kind of remarkable. Because usually when you think about deposit, you think of like the bigger players, right? The taller players, right? And I gotta when I first when I first saw Teresa Withsbroom, it made me think of Hannah Hidalgo, right? Hannah's about 5'6, 5'7. Didn't she lead the college women ranks with like five or six steals this season? So that's just getting me excited because what happens if Hannah comes to WNBA and doing the exact same thing? Seeing Hannah win Deep Poy would be disgusting. It'd be ridiculous. Also, again, Cynthia Cooper won the first two MVPs, scoring titles three seasons in a row. Diana Tarossi did break that record with four, by the way. But again, she holds the record for four MVPs in the finals. Just want to give a little, again, a little nod to the GMs. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we got a lot of fun facts. We got a lot of history, we got some good games to watch, or a good game to watch, to say the least.

Your Picks And Final Sign-Off

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But I'm curious, ladies and gentlemen, who do you all expect to win? And then who are you all predicting to win, or not predicting, choosing to win, cheering for? I'm curious of your thoughts. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. I may revisit the all-star game right before the all-star weekend occurs, which will be taking place on the 24th and 25th. So stay tuned, because it'll be a good one. And I may talk about the three point contest, the skill challenge, all that good stuff. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone one about the WNBA and two about my show. My name is Trey. I'm the host to get a bucket. I hope you're all having a good one. Take care.