Kahleah Copper ‘was balling out;’ Brittney Griner dunked, and more sights and sounds from the WNBA All-Star Game

LAS VEGAS — When Chicago Sky guard Kahleah Copper takes the court, little girls back home are on her mind.

That includes Saturday night, when she played in her third consecutive All-Star Game. The North Philadelphia native was “balling out,” in her words, posting 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting as her Team Stewart beat Team Wilson, 143-126.

“That generation is so important,” Copper told The Inquirer. “It’s important to tell your story in case somebody can relate and can feel inspired not to give up, to handle adversity, and to be great.”

Playing at an All-Star level requires consistent practice, something fostered at Rutgers, where Copper played for legendary coach C. Vivian Stringer.

“You have those stages in your life where you go from being the very best, and you get knocked back down to that level,” Copper said. “You’re top-ranked out of high school, and you get to college, and you’re back to square one. They’re just as fast, just as strong. And then you’re a top-seven draft pick, you get drafted into the WNBA, and it’s like, ‘There’s big dogs out here!’”

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While she’d love for a team to be in her hometown one day, playing in Chicago means that home is just a quick flight away. The Sky (8-12) currently sit in eighth among the 12 WNBA teams, but Copper is averaging a career- and team-high 17.3 points this season.

As for continuing to strive to be an inspiration and play at a high level, her solution is simple.

“I just continue to put the work in,” she said. “I don’t really feel any pressure. As long as I’m prepared when the opportunity comes, I can always take advantage of it.”

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WNBA commissioner and Collingswood native Cathy Engelbert didn’t offer concrete updates on league expansion, instead teasing news coming “at a later date this season,” but she did announce that next year’s All-Star festivities will take place at the Footprint Center, home of the Phoenix Mercury. It’s the third time the city has hosted the event, first in 2000 and, most recently, in 2014.

Engelbert said the league and players are having ongoing conversations about expansion.

“Coming off training camps this year, there was a lot of calls for expansion, whether of rosters or expansion of teams,” she said. “I’ve talked a lot about how hard we’re working at the league level on expansion of teams because I think as you look at, again, a country of 330 million people, the longest-tenured women’s professional sports league in the country by double any other at 27 years, we need to be more than 12 markets.”

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She added that she wants the league to be a “global platform” and cited the preseason game in Toronto as a positive step.

Navigating an Olympic break, plus an All-Star Game, and the Commissioner’s Cup will be a challenge, Engelbert admitted, but she confirmed that the WNBA would play a 40-game schedule in 2024.

Brittney Griner sees being a WNBA All-Star as an opportunity to put on a show.

Just months after returning home from her 10-month detention in Russia, Griner finished with 18 points, including two dunks, 13 rebounds, and a pair of blocks for Team Stewart — despite being quadruple-teamed (“Story of my life,” she muttered) on Saturday night. On the season, she’s averaging 19.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks.

“What you see on the court is fun, but in the locker room, the couple hours, three hours, four hours, five hours before the game, that’s where all the little moments that you take away always happen, and that’s what I look forward to,” said Griner, who added that she’s still uncovering messages of support seven months later. “And then just being here with them after everything that they did to support me through, you know, one of the toughest times, it just means everything to be here.”

Engelbert and the coaches, too, savored having Griner back at the game.

“It’s humbling,” Team Stewart coach Stephanie White, of the Connecticut Sun, said. “I’m thankful. I think the overwhelming consensus is that everybody’s really excited and thankful that she’s here. Incredibly happy for her and incredibly happy to be a part of it, but more than anything, [I’m] just grateful to see her on the floor and see her in uniform and see her smile.”

Just a few months ago, she was at a podium in a South Carolina jersey. Now, Indiana Fever rookie Aliyah Boston can add All-Star Game starter to her resumé. Boston was the starting center for Team Wilson and finished with six points and 11 rebounds in 18:37 of action.

She said playing for Dawn Staley at South Carolina prepared her for the big stage. Team Wilson featured two other former Gamecocks as well in A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces) and Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream), as well.

“She’s always said that basketball’s more than the physical game, more than shooting the ball in a hoop,” Boston said of Staley, “but more about getting your mental health strong, making sure that when there aren’t good days, you’re not just sulking and staying low.”

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Boston was one of five first-time All-Stars, and Griner had some advice for the newbies, too.

“Enjoy it. Take it in,” she said. “It’s an honor to be here. Put on for the fans; make a show. Just enjoy those little moments. They mean the most after you’re done.”