Jones wins All-Star MVP as Team Spoon defeats Team Coop 129-122

Team Spoon defeated Team Coop 129-122 on Saturday night at the United Center in Chicago, with Jonquel Jones earning All-Star Game MVP honors after recording 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists. Per ESPN's reporting, the performance marked a historic milestone: Jones became the first player in WNBA history to win the league championship, Finals MVP, Commissioner's Cup MVP, and All-Star Game MVP in the same season.

The game drew a record attendance of 19,783, according to ESPN, marking the All-Star Game's return to Chicago since 2022, when it was held at Wintrust Arena.

Team Spoon's offense was distributed across eight players who scored in double figures. Allisha Gray scored 19 points for the winners, and Caitlin Clark added 17 points on 5-for-15 shooting from three-point range with 5 assists. Clark, 24 and a guard for the Indiana Fever, sat out last year's All-Star Game in Indianapolis due to a groin injury, per ESPN. Nneka Ogwumike contributed 11 points for Team Spoon. In her performance, Ogwumike passed Maya Moore's career All-Star Game record of 119 points, according to ESPN's reporting.

Team Coop struggled to keep pace despite strong individual performances. Kelsey Mitchell led the Coop squad with 28 points, and Marina Mabrey scored 23 points, all during the first half, per ESPN. Mabrey achieved a milestone earlier this season when she matched the WNBA single-game scoring record of 53 points on June 25 when Toronto faced Los Angeles, according to ESPN's reporting. Dominique Malonga finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds for Team Coop. The 20-year-old center for the Seattle Storm, standing 6 feet 6 inches tall, made the first dunk in a WNBA All-Star Game since Sylvia Fowles in 2022, per ESPN. Other players who have dunked in All-Star contests include Lisa Leslie (2005), Jonquel Jones (2017), and Brittney Griner (2019), according to ESPN.

The contest featured 127 three-point attempts and minimal defensive intensity. WNBA greats Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon drafted the teams, with Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon leading Cooper's squad and Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve coaching Weatherspoon's team, per ESPN.

Jones, 32 and a center for the New York Liberty, competed despite personal circumstances: she played with what ESPN describes as a heavy heart following the death of an aunt. The event was attended by basketball luminaries including Lisa Leslie, South Carolina coach and former WNBA guard Dawn Staley, and former NBA star Dwyane Wade, per ESPN's reporting. The game marks the 30th season of the WNBA.