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The landmark 2024 WNBA season stops for a moment to celebrate this weekend, with the 20th edition of the WNBA All-Star Game (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN). Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will team up on the W All-Stars to face A’ja Wilson, Kahleah Copper and Team USA.
The Sporting News betting team will get you up to speed on this star-studded exhibition, unveiling the DraftKings odds and revealing the best bets and top props for the night.
The game will feature the Paris 2024 USA Basketball Women’s National Team taking on the remaining WNBA All-Stars, a format that worked three years ago before the 2021 Olympics.
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Which team will win? Will Clark and Reese coexist on the same squad? Will the veterans like Wilson, Copper, Brittney Griner, and Diana Taurasi wipe the floor with the younger stars?
We’ve got answers to a lot of your questions entering what should be a great weekend for women’s hoops. Let’s get to the DraftKings odds, best bets, and top props for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game at Footprint Center in Phoenix.
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook
To nobody’s surprise, Team USA enters the weekend heavily favored to beat the younger WNBA All-Star squad. The -238 moneyline odds translate to an implied win probability of over 70 percent!
The 5.5-point spread might seem a bit heavy-handed, at first glance. However, looking back at the past six WNBA All-Star Games, only one has been decided by fewer than seven points. The winning team in the past three years has outscored its opponent by an average of 12.7 points.
The most important part of this weekend to remember: Caitlin Clark plays on the WNBA All-Star Team. Taurasi and the elder stateswomen of the league won’t admit it, but they will more than likely be fired up to unleash a beatdown of the rookie who hogs all the headlines.
Clark has done a lot for the WNBA in her short time in the league, helping ratings and betting interest skyrocket. She’s a shoo-in for WNBA Rookie of the Year (-1000), as she’s on pace to shatter the league’s single-season assist record.
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The No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft also averages 16.8 points, 7.8 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks while maintaining shooting splits of 39.8/33.2/89.7. However, she’s still far from the best in the league. And Wilson, Copper, Alyssa Thomas, Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, and Napheesa Collier — all of whom play on Team USA — will remind Clark of that on Saturday.
Size, shooting, and experience will all come into play in this one. Team USA has won eight consecutive gold medals at the Olympics, and it should be ready to wreak havoc on the other All-Stars. Having Wilson — the league’s top scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker — is enough of an advantage. Having seven of the top 10 scorers in the league could make this a laugher of a contest for Team USA.
Look to the UNDER, too. The 196-point total seems conflated, as most W All-Star Games finish with between 150 and 180 combined points. Team USA won’t be taking defensive possessions off nearly as much as either NBA All-Star Team did in February. There’s pride at stake in this one, so don’t expect Team USA to let the WNBA All-Star Team make this a game.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Team USA 98, WNBA All-Stars 83 — Team USA wins (-238) and covers the spread (-5.5), with the game finishing well UNDER the projected total of 196 (-110).
Player | Odds |
A’ja Wilson | +500 |
Sabrina Ionescu | +900 |
Caitlin Clark | +1200 |
Kelsey Plum | +1200 |
Jewell Loyd | +1200 |
Brittney Griner | +1500 |
Breanna Stewart | +1500 |
Arike Ogunbowale | +1500 |
Kahleah Copper | +1500 |
Nneka Ogwumike | +2000 |
Jackie Young | +2000 |
Alyssa Thomas | +2500 |
Napheesa Collier | +2500 |
Angel Reese | +3000 |
Aliyah Boston | +3000 |
Diana Taurasi | +3000 |
DeWanna Bonner | +3000 |
Jonquel Jones | +3500 |
Dearica Hamby | +4000 |
Chelsea Gray | +4000 |
Kelsey Mitchell | +4000 |
Kayla McBride | +4000 |
Brionna Jones | +5000 |
Allisha Gray | +5000 |
Let’s get this sentiment out of the way right now: exhibition game MVPs never warrant big-time futures wagers. The game doesn’t count for anything in the grand scheme of things, so don’t put more than a fun, modest wager on 2-3 players.
That said, let’s have some fun. Since we have Team USA winning, we’re spreading $30 on three different Team USA players.
We’ll start with $5 on relative long-shot Mercury star Dianna Taurasi (+3000), arguably the best player in WNBA history and a former league MVP and two-time Finals MVP. What a story it would be if the 42-year-old won MVP in an All-Star Game largely dominated in media coverage by 22-year-old Caitlin Clark!
Next, we’ll sprinkle $10 on Kahleah Copper (+1500), who has quietly been one of the best players in the WNBA for a couple of years now. Copper ranks second behind only Wilson in scoring this season with 23.2 points per game on 45.4 shooting, 33.3 percent from outside, and 81.7 from the stripe. The Mercury star won Finals MVP with Chicago in 2021.
Finally, we’ll put our remaining $15 on Aces superstar A’ja Wilson (+500), the best player in the league. Nobody can say “we’re still here” to Clark and Reese better than the two-time league MVP and reigning Finals MVP. She’s the best bet for a reason, folks!
Here’s how our winnings would break down if any of our three bets hit:
Player | Odds | Wager | Winning payout |
A’ja Wilson | +500 | $15 | $90 |
Kahleah Copper | +1500 | $10 | $160 |
Dianna Taurasi | +3000 | $5 | $155 |
As you can see, spreading our $30 on three players gives us a chance to triple our total stake if the favorite Wilson wins. We also have a chance to win over five times our total investment if Copper and Taurasi win. And if we lose, we’re only down 30 bucks!
Check back for additional player and game props as they become available!