WNBA: Ogwumike, Loyd amongst Storm gamers prone to make All-Star Recreation

Voting for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Recreation concludes Saturday, June 29, and with their star-studded beginning lineup, the Seattle Storm are certain to have a number of representatives on the annual exhibition.

Final week, the WNBA launched an early return of All-Star fan votes that featured three Storm gamers: Nneka Ogwumike at No. 13 general, Jewell Loyd at No. 21 and Skylar Diggins-Smith at No. 28. That’s not a assure that each a type of gamers shall be named an All-Star—the fan vote counts for 50 p.c of the general vote, with participant and media votes accounting for 25 p.c apiece—however we all know that Loyd, as a member of the USA Basketball Ladies’s Nationwide Staff, will already be collaborating, and it could be a shock if at the very least one in every of Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith didn’t make it as nicely.

With that in thoughts, as we anticipate the ultimate outcomes to be tallied, let’s take a short have a look at every of the Storm’s greatest gamers and their instances for WNBA All-Star consideration.

Nneka Ogwumike

Photograph by David Becker/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures

Of Seattle’s big-name gamers, Ogwumike most likely has the most effective case to be named an All-Star. She’s been the workforce’s most constant participant, averaging 17.5 factors and seven.6 rebounds per recreation whereas scoring at her ordinary excessive effectivity (60 p.c true taking pictures; No. 13 within the WNBA), and he or she’s additionally main the Storm in steals at two per recreation. Ogwumike has made a Corridor of Fame profession of environment friendly, essentially sound play, and he or she’s been as useful as ever in her first season in Seattle, along with her steadiness protecting the Storm afloat throughout a tough early-season patch. At 33 years previous, Ogwumike continues to be one of many WNBA’s high frontcourt gamers, and he or she’s well-deserving of a ninth profession All-Star look.

Jewell Loyd

Photograph by Gary Dineen/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures

Again in 2021, the WNBA launched the USA Basketball Ladies’s Nationwide Staff to its All-Star festivities as a approach of protecting the annual occasion going throughout an Olympic yr. The league will take an analogous strategy for 2024: Staff USA’s 5×5 workforce shall be competing towards a 12-player roster of WNBA All-Stars, which means that everybody who’s on the Olympic workforce, which was introduced on June 11, robotically qualifies to be part of the All-Star Recreation.

That features Loyd, who shall be making her sixth-career All-Star look. The WNBA’s main scorer in 2023, Loyd has not been fairly as constant up to now in 2024, however nonetheless ranks No. 6 within the league in scoring (19.3 factors per recreation) and is averaging a career-high 5.5 rebounds per recreation. Loyd is the Storm’s major perimeter scorer, and he or she’s among the many greatest within the league at creating her personal shot, leading to loads of highlight-reel buckets that make her a must-watch participant in any kind of recreation—particularly an All-Star recreation.

Skylar Diggins-Smith

Photograph by Michael Gonzales/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures

Diggins-Smith was launched alongside Ogwumike as Seattle’s two main offseason additions, and although she missed all of final season after giving delivery to her second little one, she’s making up for misplaced time in her first season with the Storm. It took Diggins-Smith a number of video games to get again into recreation form and to regulate to her new teammates, however she’s nonetheless averaging 14.4 factors and 6.2 assists per recreation, the latter of which ranks No. 5 within the WNBA. If the fan vote finally ends up being just like the way it appeared in final week’s reveal, Diggins-Smith might want to depend on respect from her friends and WNBA media to make the All-Star Recreation, as she presently ranks sixth amongst non-Olympian guards in fan votes.

Ezi Magbegor

Photograph by David Becker/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures

Magbegor’s identify wasn’t on the record of the highest 30 fan vote-getters within the latest reveal, however that doesn’t replicate simply how indispensable she’s been for Seattle. The younger middle is averaging 13.5 factors and a career-high 9.1 rebounds per recreation, and he or she’s additionally been one of many league’s high defensive playmakers, posting averages of 1.6 steals and a couple of.4 blocks. Maybe most significantly, Magbegor has been the centerpiece of a Seattle protection that presently ranks third within the WNBA in defensive score (94.4 factors allowed per 100 possessions); that is probably not sufficient to persuade fan voters, however gamers and media may even see issues in another way, and it could be onerous to argue with them in the event that they do.