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Hello everyone, it’s All-Star weekend! Throughout the next few days I’ll be bouncing around the WNBA All-Star festivities, checking in on Lynx players and other WNBA stars and sharing my thoughts here. If you have questions or things you’d like me to write about, hit me up on Twitter! It should be a super fun weekend. I’m very excited.

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Thursday, 4 p.m.

The All-Stars are kicking things off with a little bit of time with the kids! There are a ton of youth from several organizations around the city at the Lynx practice courts, and they’re all having a great time. Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore, Skylar Diggins-Smith, A’ja Wilson, and Tina Charles are putting them through the paces with several different kinds of drills.

There are some very small children here who are better shooters than me—though that’s not saying much. Moore is doing shooting form drills and Augustus is teaching behind the back dribbles which seems fitting.

Diggins-Smith is doing a defensive drill where the kids shuffle side to side and back and forth really quickly then fall down. A flopping drill? It’s probably actually about taking charges but it’s funny to see all these kids throwing themselves backward while unguarded.

Jokes aside, it’s really cool to see WNBA All-Stars here spending time with these kids. There’s so much else they could be doing and they’re choosing to get out and participate in the community. Wilson got off the plane about two hours ago according to her Twitter and she’s already here engaging with these young people who are thrilled to see her. Great stuff.

This camp is pretty much the only thing going on today, but tomorrow will be a big day. I’ll try to update this page during or shortly after tomorrow’s open practice. See you soon!

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Friday, 9:53 a.m.

I just got back from the WNBA Fit Clinic over at Lifetime Fitness. Sue Bird, Jewell Lloyd, Kristi Toliver and Sylvia Fowles were all there. It was pretty similar to yesterday’s youth clinic, but with a really cool twist. Before all the drills started, the All-Stars took a minute to put a focus on mental health.

The WNBA players each took a group of kids, sat in a circle and asked them questions about themselves. What are you proud of? What makes you happiest? What can you do that you can teach other people? The point was to get these kids more comfortable talking about themselves and their vulnerabilities and show them that some of the best athletes in the world think it’s important to pay attention to mental health.

Issues of mental health have really come to the forefront in the NBA and WNBA, and it’s so important to be proactive in starting these conversations early. WNBA legend Chamique Holdsclaw has discussed her struggle with bipolar disorder and depression and Storm star Breanna Stewart has spoken openly about her recovery from being abused as a child–becoming a success story and inspiration for those in similarly horrifying situations. On the NBA side, Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan have both become important advocates for mental health awareness as they’ve opened up about their struggles with depression and anxiety.

This camp was just a small way to build dialogue about mental health, but when these little things all add up, it leads to a change in the cultural understanding of how important it is to think of mental health on an equal playing field as physical health. It’s so important to train both the body and the mind, and these WNBA stars understand that sports are a great avenue through which to reach young people and start building a better, more supportive community.

When all that was done, the kids got to doing some drills and hanging out with the WNBA All-Stars. Bird taught a girl how to spin a ball on her finger, seems like every kid there wanted to give Fowles a hug, and a good time was had by all. Next up is the open practices, and there should be a fair amount of chances to talk to the All-Stars, so I’ll check back this afternoon!

.@S10Bird breaking out the tricks this morning pic.twitter.com/bj5wwX3g32

— Julian Andrews (@julian_andrews_) July 27, 2018

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Friday, 2:58 p.m.

Something that doesn’t get talked about enough is how many responsibilities come with being an All-Star. They’ve got a ton of interviews, photoshoots, portraits, phantom cam (super slo-mo) sessions and tons of league-related activities. There’s far more to do than just play the game.

I’m currently at the open practice for Team Parker, they’re doing drills, putting sets together and engaging in a few shooting competitions. Earlier, at the practice for Team Delle Donne, Brittney Griner dunked. It was sweet. Before practice, the players were introduced in front of a sizable crowd here at Target Center to loud cheers—the Minnesota crowd is definitely excited to have all these stars in town.

I will say, it seems like Team Parker has a pretty solid game plan, where Team Delle Donne only actually practiced one inbounds play. I originally thought Team Delle Donne was going to win, but after seeing some of these actions from Team Parker, I’m not so sure. Maybe Dan Hughes and Team Delle Donne are just keeping their plays secret—we’ll see tomorrow. As I typed that though, Team Parker just started playing knockout shooting only underhand shots, not sure how that’s going to translate to a game environment. Chelsea Gray is killing everyone. Parker just threw a ball at Gray because Gray knocked her out. Hopefully the team chemistry isn’t gone.

The All-Stars had 45 minutes of media availability earlier (that’s a lot) all at the same time in a room in Target Center. It was a super fun free for all, I ended up talking with Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi, Elena Delle Donne, and a few other out-of-town All-Stars.

So awesome. @_ajawilson22 taking questions from a (very) young media member. “What is your shoe size?” pic.twitter.com/jBnMT5B771

— Julian Andrews (@julian_andrews_) July 27, 2018

Everyone is enjoying seeing their fellow All-Stars and getting to spend a little time together in a less intense and competitive atmosphere than during the season. So many players go abroad in the offseason, and during the season they’re with their teams, so this weekend is huge for catching up with their friends in the league. A lot of opposing players are also looking forward to spending some time in Minnesota and playing in front of the Target Center crowd without that crowd cheering for them to lose. This weekend is about having fun and celebrating the game.

Speaking of celebrating the game, how’s this for a photo? The WNBA leaders in rebounds, points and assists all in one photo. It’s easy to forget what a time it is for the league. We’re surrounded by living legends right now.

That’s a lot of boards, buckets and dimes for one photo. pic.twitter.com/BNj0zz9aYU

— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) July 27, 2018

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Friday, 6:17 p.m.

Just got back from the WNBA Orange Carpet event. The WNBA All-Stars walked into the reception and got a chance to ham it up for the cameras and hang out with their fans. The event was really well-attended, and it was fun to see so many WNBA fans there.

All the Lynx players looked great and seemed like they were having tons of fun.

.@SylviaFowles showing the fans a little love at the @WNBA All-Stars Orange Carpet. Prowl with the photobomb. pic.twitter.com/WzOnYOb41j

— Julian Andrews (@julian_andrews_) July 27, 2018

The players are having a reception right now with a lot of other people from the teams and the league, but I’m headed home! It’s been a great day, and the main event hasn’t even happened yet. Tomorrow’s the day we’ve all been waiting for… Team Delle Donne vs. Team Parker! I’ll keep you posted.

***

Saturday, 1:50 p.m.

The game is set to start in under an hour and the mood around Target Center is very light. Players are doing treatment, talking to media and shooting around on the court, and everyone else is running around looking important.

Got a chance to chat with Fowles a little bit just now, but I don’t have audio because it kind of caught me off guard. Still a little starstruck. She said that the goal for her is to relax and have fun, but not relax so much that she is in danger of getting hurt. That’s a good point. Though the game doesn’t matter in the standings, we’re still talking about 22 high-level athletes competing with one another so players definitely need to be paying attention. Fowles also said it was fun to have so many elite bigs in the building. It doesn’t get to happen too much having so many good forwards and centers playing together on the same teams. While Fowles said that she things the game is moving away from back-to-the-basket centers, she also noted that it was nice having some younger bigs like A’ja Wilson in the building to introduce WNBA fans to the next generation of talent in the middle.

On the topic of competition, Fowles said that if there’s one person who is going to definitely compete today it’s Maya Moore. Moore is always competitive; whether it’s in a game of cards or on the court with some of the biggest stars in the world, Moore is intense about winning.

Right now I’m in WNBA President Lisa Borders’ press conference. She pointed out that there are seven MVPs playing in today’s game. That’s awesome. Oh yeah! And the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game will be in Las Vegas. I’m in. There’s been a lot of interesting conversation this weekend about growing the league, including some super relevant stuff from Candace Parker yesterday. Borders is talking about where the women’s game stands and the health of the WNBA overall. She seems very optimistic about the evolution of the league both on the business side and on the court, but also bullish on keeping things growing. I’ll be addressing her quotes in my column this week, so stay tuned.

It’s almost game time! We’ve got an exciting few hours ahead of us, I’ll check in again soon!

***

Saturday, 7:12 p.m.

So as it turns out, Syl was right. Moore was indeed competitive! In fact, she won the All-Star MVP award!

What a day, and what a weekend it has been. The All-Star game was a super fun event, with lots of highlights and very minimal defense (except when Fowles stuffed Tina Charles, which was awesome).

"Thank you for your concern about my storage space," says @MooreMaya when asked about her trophy collection.

— Julian Andrews (@julian_andrews_) July 28, 2018

All the Lynx represented themselves and their city so well throughout the entire weekend, and I have to give a shoutout to all the Lynx staff who worked so hard to make this All-Star game happen. It was an incredible success. I won’t go too deep into the game itself here, but I’ve written a recap you can check out if you want to learn more about how everything went down.

I have to say, while the game was fun, the highlight of the day for me has got to be the three-point contest. Chicago’s Allie Quigley and Las Vegas’ Kayla McBride made it out of the pool of six, but tied with 18 points apiece in the final round. We were going to overtime! In the extra round, it was time for the Quigley show. The reigning three-point champ rained in a score of 29 points, including a perfect 5-for-5 on the money rack (which is worth double). McBride did her best to match it, but couldn’t pull off the upset. Quigley is your back-to-back champ.

Take a look back at each round of @alliequigley's #WNBA3Point performance at #WNBAAllStar!

The @wnbachicagosky guard defends her title going back-to-back! pic.twitter.com/z8sMkyzYCr

— WNBA (@WNBA) July 28, 2018

It was so wonderful to have all these incredible athletes in town, even if it was only for a few days. Now it’s time to actually get a break for the Lynx players before they have to get back to the grind of the season. It’s also time for me to get a break! I’m about to sleep for 15 hours tonight.

Thanks everyone so much for following along throughout All-Star weekend, and check out Lynxbasketball.com for all kinds of content. Myself and Kyle Ratke have written a few pieces, and we’ve got photos, videos and more to keep you entertained. Hope you all enjoyed All-Star weekend as much as I did, and I’ll see you soon!

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