WNBA All-Star Weekend: how to watch 3-Point Shootout, Skills Challenge, All-Star Game; plus the special rules added

Kayla Thornton is the first expansion All-Star since 2003

Jul 18, 2025

Update: special rules for All-Star Game

The AT&T 4-Point Shot will highlight a series of four special rules being implemented for use solely during the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game, set for Saturday, July 19 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC, Disney+ and ESPN+).

The special rules being put into effect for the purpose of providing added excitement and an enhanced pace of play for the 2025 AT&T All-Star Game format, are as follows:

AT&T 4-Point Shot

• Four circles – two at each end of the court – will be placed above the current three-point line at a distance of 28-feet from the rim [approximately six feet further than the current three-point line]

• Each four-foot circle shall be designated as the “AT&T 4-Point Shot” area

• Any shot made by a player who has contact within the 4-point area upon attempting the shot will be credited as four points

• For every AT&T 4-Point Shot made, AT&T will make a donation to foundations supported by the WNBA and selected by players

• (See court diagram below)

20-Second Shot Clock

• The shot clock will be shortened from 24 to 20 seconds. The shot clock will still reset to 14 seconds after an offensive rebound.

Live-Play Substitutions

Teams will be permitted to implement hockey-like player substitutions while the ball is in play, provided certain conditions are met:

• Only the offensive team may make live-play substitutions, and only one player substitution is permitted per possession

• One player can exit the court, and another can enter onto the court only while their team has possession of the ball in the backcourt

• The players exiting and entering the court must do so in the backcourt between the 28-foot mark and the half-court line

• The player entering onto the court may not touch the ball in the backcourt

Not adhering to any of the above guidelines will result in a turnover and the ball shall be awarded to the opposing team.

Automatic Points for Free-Throw Attempts: “No Free-Throws”

• In circumstances that would require a player to shoot free throw(s), the player will automatically be credited with the maximum available point(s) given the situation. In such cases, the box score will reflect the appropriate number of free-throws as attempted and as made

• The only time in which players will physically attempt a free throw will be during the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and during the entirety of any overtime period(s)

The diagram below indicates the location of the four circles for the AT&T 4-Point Shot:

Kayla Thornton is the first Valkyrie All-Star and first expansion All-Star since 2003

Jack Maloney, CBS Sports:

Seven months later, Thornton admits that she, too, was not initially thrilled. "I just won a championship in New York, and in my head I'm thinking repeat," Thornton said. But after a conversation with Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin, who worked for the Liberty from 2019 through May of 2024, Thornton let her guard down. She was willing to trust the Valkyries' vision and get out of her comfort zone….
She is not only the first All-Star in Valkyries history, but the first player from an expansion team to make an All-Star Game as a non-injury replacement since 2003.
"It is an opportunity for her to show her skill set," Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said earlier this month. "She was on a team in New York that had a lot of firepower and she was playing behind [Breanna Stewart]. It wasn't that she wasn't capable, but the mindset she has, the minutes she is playing, it can boost a player's confidence. What she is doing now, that's confidence."

Schedule and Events

3-Point Shootout & Skills Challenge, Friday 5pm PT ESPN
All-Star Game, Saturday 5:30pm PT ABC

The WNBA announced the event details below. Caitlin Clark will be a captain along with Napheesa Collier, but Clark will not participate. The WNBA decided to hold the All-Star Weekend without her anyway..

Three Point Contest

Defending Kia WNBA Skills Challenge and WNBA STARRY^® 3-Point Contest champion Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream, and three-point event record-holder Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty highlight the field of WNBA stars set to participate in the two events on Friday, July 18, as part of AT&T WNBA All-Star 2025.

Gray, who defeated New York’s Jonquel Jones in the final round of the 2024 event in Phoenix, will square off against Sonia Citron of the Washington Mystics, Kelsey Plum of the Los Angeles Sparks, and the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, who set the all-time single-round record for WNBA and NBA three-point contests with a score of 37 points in the final round of the 2023 WNBA STARRY^® 3-Point Contest.

The WNBA STARRY^® 3-Point participants will compete in a two-round, timed competition with ball racks positioned at five main shooting locations around the three-point arc. Four of the racks contain four official WNBA game balls worth one point each and one “money” ball worth two points. The fifth rack will be a special “all money ball” rack with every ball worth two points; each competitor will choose their preferred spot for the “all money ball” rack from among the five shooting locations. In addition, two ball pedestals will be positioned at deep shot locations called “The STARRY^® Range.” Each pedestal will hold one special “STARRY^® ball”; shots made with the “STARRY^® ball” are worth three points. The two players with the highest scores in the First Round will advance to the Final Round.

Update: Lexi Hull will replace Clark in the 3-Point Contest.

Skills Challenge

Gray is joined in the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge field by Natasha Cloud of the New York Liberty, Skylar Diggins and Erica Wheeler of the Seattle Storm, and Courtney Williams of the Minnesota Lynx.

The five contestants in the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge will compete in a timed obstacle course that tests a variety of basketball skills: dribbling, bounce pass, chest pass and outlet pass, and shots that include an elbow jumper, a three-pointer from the top of the arc and a corner three. Among the obstacles positioned along the course will be a 2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid. The two players with the fastest times in the First Round will advance to the Final Round.