Angel Reese says it's 'disrespectful' Dream don't have WNBA All-Star starter as reports emerge about botched player vote - Yahoo Sports

Andy BackstromContributing writerFri, July 3, 2026 at 6:29 PM UTC·5 min readThe Atlanta Dream set a single-season franchise wins record last season. They brought back their core, traded for Angel Reese and, despite a midsummer hiccup, still are tied for the fourth-best record in the WNBA. Reese leads the league in rebounding (11.7 rebounds per game). Rhyne Howard (18.9 points per game) and Allisha Gray (18.3 points per game) are top-15 scorers. Not one of those three were named an All-Star starter on Thursday. In fact, the Dream didn't account for one of the 10 selected, a development Reese called "disrespectful." She was especially frustrated that Howard and Gray were omitted from a pool that features the Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell; the Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson; the Dallas Wings' Paige Bueckers and Jessica Shepard; the Minnesota Lynx's Natasha Howard and Olivia Miles; the Golden State Valkyries' Gabby Williams; and the New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart. "I expect to be disrespected," Reese said, per ESPN. "For those two, though, I think they work so hard and they put a lot of work in, and the way that they're guarded every game and they adjust — the reason why we're where we are is because of those two. "For us not to have anyone was just a slap in the face, but they're not going to say anything. I am." Reese, Howard and Gray were among the biggest snubs in a dubious voting process that's facing scrutiny after ESPN's Alexa Philippou reported Thursday night that only about 85 of the WNBA's roughly 180 players submitted ballots for starters ahead of the July 25 exhibition at Chicago's United Center. In her first season with the Atlanta Dream, Angel Reese is once again leading the WNBA in rebounding, this time with 11.7 rebounds per game. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) (Thearon W. Henderson via Getty Images)Fans accounted for 50% of the vote that determined the starters, whereas players and a media panel wound up responsible for 25% apiece. Every player and media panelist was able to complete one ballot that consisted of four guards and six frontcourt players. Fans, on the other hand, could submit one ballot each day during a 17-day voting window through WNBA.com or the WNBA app. They could choose as many as four guards and up to six frontcourt players on each ballot. There were three "2-for-1 days," on which fans' votes counted twice. Once all of the votes were accumulated, players were ranked by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups (fans, players and media panelists). Then a score was calculated for each player, reflecting their weighted rank from fan votes, player votes and media votes. The four guards and six frontcourt players with the best scores were tabbed as starters for this year's All-Star Game, with fan voting serving as a tiebreaker, if necessary. The ESPN report indicated that the incomplete player voting participation partly stemmed from a distribution error. Both Philippou and The Athletic's Annie Costabile have reported that some Los Angeles Sparks players didn't receive ballots or didn't know they had them prior to the voting deadline. "Players were sent ballots via email," the Sparks said in a statement to the outlets. "Some players indicated that they didn't receive the email or weren't aware of it until after the voting period had closed. That's something we take responsibility for as an organization, and we'll have a more robust process going forward." It's up to the teams to distribute ballots to players, who are allowed to vote for teammates as starters, as reported by The Athletic. Keeping that in mind, it's worth noting that Kelsey Plum — a four-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion who's in her second season with the Sparks — ranked 12th among the league's guards in player voting despite coming in at sixth in fan voting and fifth in media voting and, of course, averaging 23.9 points and 6.4 assists per game. But she wasn't the only player with a glaring voting discrepancy. The same went for Clark, who was No. 2 among guards in fan voting and No. 3 among the media panelists but only 11th among the players. Even so, Clark's weighted rank was the third best of the W guards, hence why she's a starter for this year's All-Star Game. The league's 15 head coaches will pick the exhibition's 12 reserves, voting for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position. That said, coaches can't vote for players on their own team. Players like Plum, and maybe even the aforementioned Dream trio altogether, can receive recognition that way. With more fan votes, however, some combination of Reese, Howard and Gray might have landed the starter designation, too, regardless of the botched player vote. Reese said Thursday she wishes Dream faithful rallied around her group more, according to ESPN. Reese was sixth among frontcourt players in fan voting, and Howard and Gray were ninth and seventh, respectively, among guards in fan voting. "I haven't really said much this year in the media, because honestly it's been tough for me over the last two years," Reese said, per ESPN. "But I feel like it was important for me to speak for my teammates that don't necessarily speak for themselves all the time. "I know the work they put in. I know the reason why I'm in Atlanta is because of them. I know that the team success is based off those two as well."