Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon bragged about the competitiveness of her team as the 2026 WNBA All-Star draft concluded Wednesday afternoon.
She and fellow Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper were selected as general managers to construct the rosters.
Cooper, a two-time WNBA MVP, had a simple response for her counterpart. "But can you score enough points?" Cooper said slyly on the broadcast.
The game will be played July 25 at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls. The WNBA Shooting Stars event and 3-point contest will be held July 24 at Wintrust Arena, the home of the Chicago Sky.
"Team Coop" was awarded the top pick via coin flip, and with it came Paige Bueckers. The Dallas Wings star point guard received the most votes from the fans, so she was awarded to the team that won the coin flip.
"Paige does it all," Cooper said. "She can shoot the 3, she scores on all three levels, but the most important thing, she is a leader on the floor. She is getting her entire team really involved in everything that they do."
Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark earned the second-most fan votes and was placed on "Team Spoon."
Weatherspoon was then given the first pick for the rest of the starters and immediately selected four-time MVP A'ja Wilson (Aces). She rounded out her starters with Olivia Miles (Lynx), Aliyah Boston (Fever) and Jessica Shepard (Wings).
The bench was filled out by Rhyne Howard (Dream), Allisha Gray (Dream), Jonquel Jones (Liberty), Courtney Williams (Lynx), Kiki Iriafen (Mystics) and Nneka Ogwumike (Sparks).
Two-time MVP Breanna Stewart was the first pick for "Team Coop" as Cooper filled out her starting lineup with Kelsey Mitchell (Fever), Natasha Howard (Lynx) and Gabby Williams (Valkyries).
Two-time All-Star Angel Reese (Dream) was the first pick of all the reserves and was joined by Marina Mabrey (Tempo), Dominique Malonga (Storm), Kelsey Plum (Sparks), Jackie Young (Aces) and Sonia Citron (Mystics).
Weatherspoon said she wanted playmakers, scorers, rebounders and defenders.
"Kind of put together a well-balanced basketball team," she said.
Cooper's philosophy was a bit simpler. Scorers were the No. 1 priority before mentioning rebounders. She also wants her team to play fast and be able to get up and down the court since there's no half-court sets or calling plays.
The game will feature just one rookie in Miles and three other first-time All-Stars in Shepard, Malonga and Mabrey.
Aces coach Becky Hammon will coach "Team Coop" while Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve will lead "Team Spoon."
The two teams will play for a $100,000 prize pool to benefit two Chicago-based organizations focused on keeping girls in sports. The organization paired with the winning team will get $70,000.