The WNBA All-Star Game, like any other All-Star Game, is an exhibition. There are no real stakes at all. It exists for the sole purpose of being fun and self-congratulatory. Hey, you\u2019re one of the best in the world at your job, go do it with the other people who are also the best in the world, and we\u2019ll televise the whole thing. With those parameters in mind, it\u2019s easy to understand when people don\u2019t go that hard on the court and instead go extremely hard off the court. Caitlin Clark said it plainly before the game: \u201cWe joke about winning, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s not that serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark was one of the weekend\u2019s All-Star team captains, which meant she was in charge of hand selecting the members of her squad, Team Clark. Unfortunately for the basketball fans who wanted to see her take a crack at the All-Star Game\u2019s special 28-foot four-point shots, Clark is dealing with a nagging right groin injury that prevented her from playing in the game.<\/p>\n
But based on videos from Friday night that surfaced online, one might have wondered if members of the other team might have missed Saturday\u2019s game for very different reasons.<\/p>\n
Social media was plastered with clips of Team Collier\u2014the All-Star team captained by Minnesota Lynx magnate Napheesa Collier and including Courtney Williams, Kelsey Plum<\/a>, Paige Bueckers<\/a>, and Angel Reese<\/a>\u2014indulging in the All-Star night life. The events of Friday night led to Reese playfully giving her team a new name (Team Hangover<\/a>), and also led to Saturday morning\u2019s shootaround getting canceled. All signs pointed to Team Collier being debilitated by some of the most vicious hangovers in human history. (If Team Clark was up late the night before, there was little evidence of it online.)<\/p>\n Against all odds, in a valiant, stouthearted performance, the band of hooligans pulled out a resounding 20-point win. Williams had 13 points, Plum had 16, and seasoned vets Allisha Gray and Nneka Ogwumike<\/a> combined for 34. Team Collier\u2019s 151 total points, aided by the novelty four-point shot and the traditional matador defense that defines every All-Star Game, set a new record for the event. Not only that, their fearless leader set a record as well. Collier\u2014the rudder of a boat that could have been dangerously wobbly\u2014dropped 36 points, the most ever in an All-Star Game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe set a lot of records,\u201d Collier marveled at her postgame press conference, her All-Star Game MVP trophy shining right next to her. \u201cSkylar [Diggins] had a triple-double, which is insane in an All-Star Game! We set the record for scoring; it\u2019s just so fun. We had a really great time.\u201d<\/p>\n Collier\u2014who had one half of the inimitable StudBudz duo on her roster\u2014knew her role as team mother extended beyond the basketball court.<\/p>\n X content<\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n