of WNBA The All-WNBA first and second teams were announced Wednesday, but one notable omission was Kelsey Mitchell. All-WNBA is an annual honor given to the league's best player after each season, determined by a vote of sportswriters and broadcasters. The first and second teams both have no positions and consist of five players each. While the final picks weren't particularly surprising, there is one player who should have been named to the All-WNBA team: Kelsey Mitchell.
The final choices are:
All-WNBA First Team
Aja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces)
Nafeesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx)
Brianna Stewart (New York Liberty)
Caitlin Clark (Indiana Pacers)
Alyssa Thomas (Sun, CT)
All-WNBA second team
Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings)
Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty)
Carlea Copper (Phoenix Mercury)
Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle Storm)
Jonquel Jones (New York Liberty)
I announced my All-WNBA picks last month, and while my list is very similar to the official list, there is one important difference. That was replacing Arike Ogunbowale with Kelsey Mitchell of the Indiana Fever's second team. Other than that, my list had no discrepancies with the official ballot.
Let's look at the numbers. In the 2024 season, Mitchell averaged 19.2 points and shot 46.8% from the field, including 40.2% from three. She also had 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists, but was primarily used as a scorer for an Indiana Fever team that finished 20-20 and became the No. 6 seed, making the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Ogunbouyere is averaging 22.2 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.6 rebounds, and her numbers are high in all three categories. However, she shot a career-worst 38.3 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from three. To be fair, given that Ogunbouyere is the team's main scoring option, she was under more defensive pressure than Kelsey Mitchell. Still, her inefficiency cannot be ignored, as well as her team's lack of success this season. The Wings finished with a record of 9 wins and 31 losses, the second-worst record in the league. Granted, this record reflects the team's overall problems and injuries far beyond Ogunbowale's individual performance, but more than one of the most talented guard scorers in the league, this record reflects one of the worst teams in the WNBA. It remains difficult to choose just one player.
Jonquel Jones actually received the fewest votes of any player selected to an all-WNBA team (she finished with 3 votes for the first team and 29 votes for the second team), but this season's Liberty Given her success and her two-way advantage, she's a tough pick. to refute.
It would be equally difficult to justify removing other players from the All-WNBA Second Team. Sabrina Ionescu is the leader of the Snakes, the best team in the league, while Carlea Copper and Nneka Ogwumike each had great individual seasons and were the best players on their respective playoff teams.
Ogbowale is a great player, with two valuable All-WNBA seasons and four All-Star appearances under his belt, and will likely earn many accolades in the future. But Kelsey Mitchell second place scorer In the league match after the Olympics. She averaged 23.4 points, shot 50.6 percent from the field and 45.4 percent from 3-point range in the final 14 games of the season, leading Indiana to a postseason berth. This type of efficiency, scoring ability and team success should be rewarded with an All-WNBA bid.
