Team Wilson by the Numbers
Breaking down one notable stat for each player on the All-Star team co-captained by A'ja Wilson
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WNBA All-Star weekend has arrived! In honor of this occasion and given that this is Her Hoop Stats, I put together one stat for each player on Team Wilson and Team Stewart. Ok, that’s a bit of a lie. I got a little carried away and included multiple nuggets of information for several players - some based on stats from this season and others based on career accomplishments. The one so-called featured stat for each player is in bold. So as not to overload you with information, I’m releasing each team’s stats separately: Team Wilson is below, and I will post Team Stewart’s tomorrow. Enjoy!
Team Wilson
A’ja Wilson (4th All-Star appearance)
The front-runner for MVP this season, A’ja Wilson has been the engine that’s propelled Las Vegas to a Commissioner’s Cup berth and the second-best record in the W. So, it’s pretty tough to pick just one stat. She’s sixth in scoring (18.5 PPG), first in rebounding (10.1 RPG), second in blocked shots (2.1 BPG), and first in double-doubles (12). Well, how about we just combine these into one stat? Wilson is on pace to become the first player in nearly a decade to average at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks in a season. The only players to accomplish the feat are a veritable who’s who of WNBA legends: Sylvia Fowles, Candace Parker, and Lisa Leslie.
Sylvia Fowles (8th All-Star appearance)
Fowles shot 5-for-8 from the field in Minnesota’s 81-78 win over first-place Chicago on Wednesday…and her season field-goal percentage dropped. I already waxed poetic about Fowles’ accuracy from the field in last week’s roundup, so here’s another stat from the league’s greatest center of all-time (GCAT? Yeah, still very much working on a catchier acronym). Excluding the 2020 season when she missed 15 games with a calf injury, Fowles has failed to finish in the top five in rebounding just once in 13 seasons - her rookie season when she was sixth. That stat is likely to hold after this season given that her 9.2 rebounds per contest this season rank second in the W. Longevity and consistency - it’s a pretty good recipe for holding the league record in career rebounds.
Candace Parker (7th All-Star appearance)
I’ve previously covered how Candace Parker is the queen of the triple-double (or, I guess co-queen now with Ionescu) and the undisputed champion of the near-triple double. Chicago’s Swiss Army knife has recorded 68 career games (including the playoffs) with at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, including five such games this season. That’s 41 games clear of the player next on the list, Fever legend Tamika Catchings! Not a bad blueprint for becoming the only player in WNBA history with at least 6,000 points, 3,000 rebounds, and 1,500 assists during regular season play.
Kelsey Plum (1st All-Star appearance)
The reigning Sixth Woman of the Year has flourished after being inserted into the Aces’ starting lineup. I could talk about how she’s second in scoring (19.9 points per game) and sixth in assists (5.7 assists per contest), numbers that have placed her squarely in the MVP conversation. However, Plum’s stat is her proficiency from long distance. Having already hit 71 triples (3.2 per game), the Las Vegas guard is on pace for the second-most threes in a regular season behind Diana Taurasi’s 2006 campaign when she hit 121.
Sabrina Ionescu (1st All-Star appearance)
The perpetual triple-double watch that is Sabrina Ionescu helped transform New York from a laughingstock earlier this season into a playoff contender. In terms of Ionescu stats, the low-hanging fruit is that she shares the single-season and career records for triple-doubles with Candace Parker. However, did you know that Ionescu has recorded six games this season with at least 10 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists? Already a WNBA single-season record, the rest of the WNBA has combined for just seven such games this year.
Ariel Atkins (2nd All-Star appearance)
How important is Ariel Atkins to Washington’s offense? When she’s on the court, the Mystics average 103.7 points per 100 possessions. How about when she’s on the bench? A pedestrian 84 points per 100 possessions. That +19.7 difference in offensive rating is topped only by Sabrina Ionescu this season (minimum 100 minutes played).
Rhyne Howard (1st All-Star appearance)
Already surpassing last year’s win total of eight, Atlanta is one of this season’s feel-good stories, currently sitting in a three-way tie for sixth place entering the All-Star break. Rhyne Howard has played a crucial role in the Dream’s surprising success. Unless something drastic changes after the All-Star break, Howard should take home Rookie of the Year honors. While the Kentucky alum has cooled off a touch since her red-hot start to the season, her numbers are nonetheless impressive for any WNBA player, never mind a rookie. Showing she can get the job done on both ends of the floor, Howard is one of just four players in the league this season to average at least 15 points and 1.5 steals per contest.
Courtney Vandersloot (4th All-Star appearance)
Courtney Vandersloot ranks second in the WNBA in assists with 6.4 per contest. Believe it or not, this actually represents a down year for Sloot, who has led the league in assists every season since 2016. But that’s just a reflection of how high the Chicago point guard has set the bar; most of the W’s guards can only dream of output like this. Since her debut in 2011, Vandersloot has dished out 2,319 assists during the regular season, an absurd 780 dimes ahead of No. 2 on the list during that time frame, Sue Bird.
Dearica Hamby (2nd All-Star appearance)
Dearica Hamby rounds out the trio of Aces on Team Wilson. The two-time Sixth Woman of the Year has settled nicely into the Las Vegas starting lineup this season, dropping 11.9 points per game and grabbing 7.9 boards per outing. Hamby’s ability to control the glass was on full display earlier this season when she grabbed 19 rebounds in her team’s win over Seattle, tied for the second-most in a game this year behind Sylvia Fowles. She proved that was no fluke by snatching at least a dozen rebounds in three other games this year; only Jonquel Jones, Jessica Shepard, and A’ja Wilson have more such games this season.
Natasha Howard (2nd All-Star appearance)
When looking at Natasha Howard’s stats this season, nothing immediately jumps off the page. However, upon taking everything together - points, rebounds, steals, blocks - you start to realize how instrumental Howard was to New York’s turnaround last month. The 2019 Defensive Player of the Year is one of just three players this season to average at least 15 points, five rebounds, one steal, and one block per outing. The other two just happen to be the favorites for league MVP - A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.
Brionna Jones (2nd All-Star appearance)
The reigning Most Improved Player, Brionna Jones is the clear front-runner for this season’s Sixth Woman of the Year award. Jones’ dominance on the offensive glass coupled with her uber-efficiency on offense has resulted in a second consecutive All-Star Game for the Connecticut center. As our own James Hyman recently pointed out, she has benefitted from playing many of her minutes with Connecticut’s second unit and, by extension, facing opposing teams’ backup forwards and centers. Her offensive efficiency numbers are nevertheless impressive, including her individual offensive rating of 128.1 (estimated points produced per 100 individual possessions). That leads the W among players who have played at least 250 minutes this year and would rank seventh all-time if the season ended today.
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.