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The Oregon Ducks are set to have multiple former players in the WNBA All-Star Game for the second time in the past four seasons.
New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu and Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally were among the 10 starters named for the 2025 All-Star Game.
The starters were determined by a combination of fan (50 percent), player (25 percent) and media votes (25 percent). Four guards and six front court players made up the selection.
It’s the fourth consecutive All-Star selection for Ionescu. Coming off a WNBA Championship in 2024, the Liberty star is playing some of the best basketball of her career. The 2020 WNBA No. 1 overall pick is averaging a career-best 18.6 points a game, to go along with 5.1 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals.
Sabally is similarly having a career year in what’s also her sixth season. She’s averaging 19.1 points a game, 8.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in her first year with the Phoenix Mercury. It will be Sabally’s third All-Star game, with her previous selections coming in 2021 and 2023.
The duo of Ionescu and Sabally played together at Oregon from 2017 to 2020. They helped the Ducks to their first and only Final Four appearance in 2019. Oregon was one of the favorites to win the NCAA Championship in 2020 before the season got cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite being opponents in the WNBA and at the international level, the former college teammates received the opportunity to pair up again over the winter for the Phantom Basketball Club in the 3×3 league Unrivaled.
“Being able to play together professionally is really exciting,” Ionescu said to NBC Sports in January. “Being able to see her growth in this league, mine, and now being able to join forces and be able to pick up like we left off in college is really exciting.”
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Depending on which team Ionescu and Sabally are each drafted on, they could be teammates once again in this year’s All-Star Game.
The reserves will be announced on July 6 at 9 a.m. PT. The Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier and the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark are the two captains who will draft their All-Star squads on July 8.
Joining Ionescu, Sabally, Clark and Collier as starters are Fever forward Aliyah Boston, Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike, Las Vegas forward A’ja Wilson and Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray.
In addition to the All-Star Game itself, it’s to be seen whether or not Ionescu or Sabally may participate in other All-Star festivities. Ionescu already won the WNBA Skills Challenge in 2022 and the WNBA Three-Point Contest in 2023 when she famously set a WNBA and NBA record of 37 makes.
The Liberty guard could become just the second WNBA player to be a multiple-time Three-Point Contest champion if she were to compete and win. Ionescu also competed against Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.
Ionescu and Sabally are scheduled to play in the All-Star Game on July 19 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana.
