Game Changers: Inside The 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend
Halfway through its 2025 season, the WNBA continues to break records in viewership, attendance, and fan engagement. And the league’s annual All-Star Game, held last weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana, was more than just a friendly competition between Team Collier and Team Clark — it was a showcase of the W’s rising star power and a peek into its bright future.
For our second Game Changers package, Bustle was on the ground for All-Star Weekend, where the city was humming with energy, and seemingly every major brand wanted in on the action. Coach and AT&T threw a chic party where Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron, Napheesa Collier, and other MVPs made guest appearances. Delta helmed an athlete-studded after-party complete with soccer legend Megan Rapinoe, a DJ who didn’t skip a beat, and a dance floor that stayed packed all night. Companies like Eli Lilly also seized the moment to raise awareness for health issues like breast cancer, hosting activations throughout the weekend and offering free mammograms. The energy of the weekend was more playful than competitive, so the pressure was off as athletes embraced their midseason break and finally let loose — Angel Reese even compared the vibe in Indy to Miami nightlife.
In between the revelry, we caught up with New York Liberty power forward Breanna Stewart, who shared her approach to tunnel-walk style, and Jess Smith, president of the Golden State Valkyries, which was recently crowned the most valuable franchise not only in the WNBA but also in American women’s professional sports (casual). And of course we spent time with the All-Star players themselves, who gave us their takes on what it really means to be an All-Star — both on and off the court. Time to get your game face on.
— Christina Amoroso, Editorial Director; and Michelle Toglia, Executive Editor
Interviews and Photographs: Carly Bivona
Senior Designer: Margaret Flatley
Social Director: Charlie Mock
Editor-in-Chief: Charlotte Owen
SVP Creative: Karen Hibbert
Chicago Sky forward
If I weren’t an All-Star… I’d be on vacation. On a boat. I would love to be on a boat right now.
Ingredients of an All-Star: Being consistent. You have to trust the work, trust the process. It’s not going to always be easy, but you never give up.
My personal All-Star: God. We do chapel before every game, and that’s the best thing for me — being able to pray before the game with not just our team but the other team.
Washington Mystics forward
Wellness hack: Take a break from social media. It can be toxic at times — just prioritize your mental health.
Ingredients of an All-Star: The confidence you have in yourself and not letting outside noise steer you from what you want to achieve.
My superpower: Napping. I can nap anywhere. I can nap standing up, in a car — anywhere.
Minnesota Lynx guard
My All-Star motto: Kill it. I gotta kill it.
Season snapshot: The orange carpet last night, man. We had a ball.
All-Stars never… Have bad energy. Boom.
Indiana Fever center-forward
If I weren’t an All-Star… I would be dancing somewhere. I would just have to be a TikTok dancer.
All-Star dream team: Kerry Washington. Michael B. Jordan. What’s his name? It’s the guy from The Blacklist — Raymond Reddington. I don’t know what his real name is. Teresa Mendoza [the character] from Queen of the South because I think she’s a boss. And last one is the guy from Dexter.
All-Stars never… Complain.
Seattle Storm forward
Ingredients of an All-Star: Being a good person, always thinking about others, and being really authentic.
Wellness hack: I foam roll like two, three times a day.
All-Stars always… Grind. And All-Stars never give up.
Washington Mystics guard
Wellness hack: Moisturizing eye patches. You don’t get any sleep, so pack a lot of those.
My personal All-Star: My girlfriend, Morgan Medlock. The last two years she has really, really put a battery in my back. Even when I didn’t get the initial All-Star call, she still had belief, like, “No, Slim, you’re an All-Star no matter what.” So shout out to her, I love you.
I feel like an All-Star when… Hair is done. Beautiful.
Seattle Storm forward
Wellness hack: How you manage the first night [of All-Star Weekend] is going to determine the rest of it.
My superpower: My Type A personality.
All-Star dream team: Definitely Adam Sandler. Prince knew how to play basketball. Keke Palmer because I love her. I’m going to throw Chris Evans in there — tall! And Beyonce’s good at everything.
Seattle Storm guard
All-Star dream team: Tracee Ellis Ross, Tia Mowry, Michelle Obama, Zendaya, and Keke Palmer. That room would be so crazy — you got fashion, you got multifaceted women representation, intellect. That’s a great deal.
My superpower: Probably my intuition. I got a knack for knowing things. Mama knows, you know what I’m saying?
If I weren’t an All-Star… I’d probably own a fashion house. I still might.
New York Liberty guard
All-Star dream team: Steph Curry, Steve Nash, Tiger Woods, my husband, and my mom.
Ingredients of an All-Star: Just owning your own process and being super confident where your feet are at.
Season snapshot: Our Game One ring ceremony, and being able to get our championship rings from last year.
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