Sun’s Thomas named All-Star reserve
Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas was selected as a reserve Monday for AT&T WNBA All-Star Game.
It is the second All-Star selection for Thomas, who will represent the Sun at the game July 27 in Las Vegas. She will be joined by teammate Jonquel Jones, who was named a starter last week. Thomas was also an All-Star reserve in 2017.
A trio of Chicago Sky players were also selected as reserves: Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley and Diamond DeShields. The other reserves are Tina Charles of New York, Candice Dupree and Erica Wheeler of Indiana, DeWanna Bonner of Phoenix, Sylvia Fowles and Odyssey Sims of Minnesota, Nneka Ogwumike of Los Angeles and Kristi Toliver of Washington.
Captains Elena Delle Donne and A’ja Wilson will choose their teams from the eight other starters and then the 12 reserves.
The reserves were selected by the league’s head coaches, who voted for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference. The coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.
“I am extremely happy for AT on her All-Star selection,” Sun coach and general manager Curt Miller said. “She is such an important piece with the way we play. She is a tremendous defender and is currently in the top five in steals this season. She is also one of the best facilitating forwards in the league on the offensive end, allowing us to play our exciting style.”
Thomas is averaging11.6 points and 7.2 rebounds, both of which are career-bests for the forward. She leads the team with 34 steals and has also dished out 53 assists. On June 26, Thomas had a career-high 28 points in Dallas while shooting a career-best 12for-16 from the field. She has scored 20 or more points four times this season and has four double-doubles.
“It’s a huge honor,” Thomas said. “Not only are we having team success, we are having individual success as well. I’m extremely happy. Hard work is paying off, and I’m excited to be able to be there and share this experience with Jonquel.” Jones is player of week: The Sun’s Jones was named Eastern Conference player of the week for the fourth time this season and the seventh time in her career. In three games last week, she averaged 16.7 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 47.5 percent. On Sunday in Indiana, she had a season-high 26 points on 11-for-19 shooting while also pulling down eight rebounds in the win.