In a season marred by injury and inconsistency, the Atlanta Dream (7-11) enjoyed some uplifting news on Tuesday. Allisha Gray was named a 2024 WNBA All-Star; it’s her second-straight, and second overall, honor.

The announcement came after she scored 19 points in Atlanta’s 87-77 home loss to the Chicago Sky. Before that, Gray turned in a strong offensive effort against the New York Liberty on Sunday, although her 24 points came in another loss as the Dream let what was once a 16-point lead wither away into a 81-75 defeat.

Those performances, however, are outliers. For much of the season, a good game from Gray has resulted a win for Atlanta. While most players are better in wins than losses, Gray’s differential has been rather pronounced through the first half of the 2024 season. In the Dream’s seven victories, she’s averaged 18.9 points per game on 50 percent shooting, including 59.0 percent from 3. In the team’s 11 losses, she’s managing just 13.8 points per game on 38.2 percent shooting overall and 26.4 percent from 3. In total, she’s scoring 15.8 points per game on 42.8 percent shooting, along with 3.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and a steal per game. For Atlanta to escape their near-perpetual malaise, they need Gray to post surefire All-Star numbers more frequently.

Oh, Canada!

After missing her first 14 games as a member of the Dream due to a hand injury, Jordin Canada finally made her debut on June 23 against the Liberty. Three games later, Canada again is sidelined, having suffered a broken finger in Sunday’s loss to New York. She is expected to be out until after the Olympic break.

The injury stalls the slivers of positive momentum Atlanta had begun to generate with Canada on the court, especially on the offensive end. While she struggled through rust and a lack rhythm in her first game, she had begun to look more like herself in the subsequent three contests, bringing zest, zip and organization to the Atlanta offense. Canada’s on-court presence coincided with a team-wide emphasis on pushing the pace. As scoring in the halfcourt has been a challenge for Atlanta, creating, and then cashing in on, semi-transition opportunities is a must. Canada’s eagerness to fire hit-ahead passes helped Atlanta put more pressure on opposing defenses. In halfcourt situations, she also injected the Dream offense with more juice, highlighted by her ability to break the paint to get to the bucket or kick out to shooters. Those traits gave the Dream offense an intentionality it had lacked in her absence, and with Rhyne Howard still out with an ankle injury, it’s hard to imagine offense consistently coming easy for Atlanta anytime soon.

Welcome back, Maya?

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A little over a week ago, Atlanta made their first in-season roster move, waiving Crystal Dangerfield and signing Maya Caldwell. Canada’s return obviated the need for Dangerfield; however, with Canada again set to miss a significant chunk of time, the Dream may decide to move on from Caldwell to add another primary ball handler.

While understandable, that’d be unfortunate, for, as she first proved in 2022 when playing nine games for the Dream, Caldwell is a viable, valuable WNBA player. An athletic wing, she is an eager, attentive defender who also has some on the ball pop. Her 3-point shooting is her swing skill. In 2022, she shot an outstanding, yet unsustainable, 56.3 percent from deep on 3.6 attempts per game. Last season with the Indiana Fever, her 3-point percentage sunk to the other extreme, as she converted only 13.8 percent of her triples. Thus far, in 49 minutes across three games, Caldwell is 3-for-8 from downtown, good for 37.5 percent. If she can maintain that accuracy, all while firing away frequently and fearlessly, she can help a Dream team that currently is short on aggressive, efficient perimeter scoring.

What’s next for Atlanta?

On Friday, July 5, the Dream head to Texas to take on the Dallas Wings (7:30 p.m. ET, ION). It will be the second meeting between the two teams; Atlanta defeated Dallas 83-78 on May 21. From there, it’s on to the northeast, with the Dream visiting the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, July 7 (1 p.m. ET, League Pass). Last Friday, the Dream took advantage of a Sun team on the second night of a back-to-back, getting the 78-74 win in Atlanta. In addition to the absences of Canada and Howard, the Dream also remain without Aerial Powers, who has been out since exiting last Friday’s victory with a calf injury.

One week after falling to the Minnesota Lynx in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship game, the New York Liberty exacted revenge. Buoyed by the Barclays Center crowd, rather than the surroundings of UBS Arena, the Liberty used an 18-8 fourth quarter, which included a 15-0 run, to wrest control of the game and defeat the Lynx, 76-67.

If only New York’s players received a portion of a $500,000 prize pool for the victory. Alas, they’ll have to settle for padding their league-leading record of 17-3.

The play of Jonquel Jones, named an All-Star for the fifth time in her career later on Tuesday night, proved determinative in swinging the result in the Liberty’s favor. After failing to make a shot from the field and scoring only three points last week, she turned in an efficient 21-point and 12-rebound double-double.

What’s up with Stewie’s shooting?

Jones’ effort helped compensate for another subpar shooting night from Breanna Stewart, who also earned an All-Star honor—her sixth—on Tuesday. She was a frigid 5-for-20 from the field, using a 7-for-8 performance from the line to find her way to 17 points. She matched her point total with 17 rebounds, a reminder that, for as a prolific of a scorer as she is, Stewart can impact winning in a multitude of ways.

Nevertheless, an 0-for-5 performance from behind the arc—the eighth time this season she has failed to make a 3-pointer in a game—is a cause for concern. It’s not another Commissioner’s Cup or the best regular season record that motivates the Liberty; it’s a title. And to secure the first championship in franchise history, they need a peak version of Stewart. She wasn’t that in last year’s Finals, going 3-for-17 from downtown in four Finals games. As Robert Mummery recently analyzed for The Her Hoop Stats Newsletter, the shooting slump that appeared to afflict her throughout last year’s playoffs—as she shot less than 20 percent from deep across 10 playoff games—has continued into this season; Stewie’s 3-point percentage currently sits at a career-low 25.3 percent.

During ESPN’s broadcast of the Liberty’s game against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday, LaChina Robinson, Chiney Ogwumike and Carolyn Peck mentioned that Stewart had indicated that she had made some adjustments and was confident in her stroke. Stewart went 3-for-7 from long-range, helping the Liberty come back and defeat the Dream, 81-75. She also surpassed 5,000 career points against Atlanta, becoming the fastest player to reach that milestone in league history.

But, Tuesday night suggests Stewart’s shot still isn’t there yet. Luckily for the Liberty, there’s plenty of time for Stewart to regress to her career norm of almost 36 percent. However, the high likelihood that she’ll play significant minutes for Team USA at the 2024 Olympics means that fatigue—one of Mummery’s hypotheses for Stewart’s unprecedented slump—could be something Stewart and New York will have to manage as they prepare for a championship push.

Sab’s stellar June

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Sabrina Ionescu, in contrast, just polished off the best month of her career. On the same day she was voted an All-Star for the third time, she also was named the WNBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month for June.

Tasked with heavier offensive burden due to the extended absence of Courtney Vandersloot, Ionescu shined, expertly balancing the roles of playmaker and scorer. She averaged 19.8 points and 7.4 assists per game, both of which are month-best marks for her career. She also continued to light it up from long range, draining 37.4 percent of her 8.3 3-point attempts per game.

Those numbers even include her ice-cold performance against the Dream on the final day of June, when she was just 3-for-17 from the field as she finished with 10 points and four assists. On Tuesday, Ionescu again struggled to get it going from behind the arc, shooting just 1-for-10 from 3; however, she utilized her improved 2-point scoring package to work her way to 17 points, along with tossing five assists.

What’s next for New York?

Winners of five-straight regular-season games, the Liberty will look to extend their streak on Saturday, July 6, visiting the Indiana Fever for the fourth and final matchup between the two teams (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Thus far, New York has owned Indy, cruising to a three wins over Caitlin Clark and company. The Liberty then will be off until next Wednesday, July 10, when they head to Uncasville to take on the Connecticut Sun, currently second in the league standings, for a matinee matchup (11 a.m. ET, League Pass). In the first game between the two teams on June 8, New York handed Connecticut their first loss of the season, 82-75.

Get ready for Team WNBA vs. Team USA at WNBA All-Star 2024 in Phoenix!

Here are the 12 WNBA All-Stars who will take on the USA Basketball Women’s National Team on July 20:

• DeWanna Bonner (Connecticut Sun; 6th selection)
• Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever; 2nd selection)
• Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever; 1st selection)
• Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream; 2nd selection)
• Dearica Hamby (Los Angeles Sparks; 3rd selection)
• Brionna Jones (Connecticut Sun; 3rd selection)
• Jonquel Jones (New York Liberty; 5th selection)
• Kayla McBride (Minnesota Lynx; 4th selection)
• Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever; 2nd selection)
• Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas Wings; 4th selection)
• Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle Storm, 9th selection)
• Angel Reese (Chicago Sky; 1st selection)

As a reminder, the members of Team USA are:

• Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx; 4th selection)
• Kahleah Copper (Phoenix Mercury; 4th selection)
• Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces; 6th selection)
• Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury; 10th selection)
• Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty; 3rd selection)
• Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm; 6th selection)
• Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces; 3rd selection)
• Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty; 6th selection)
• Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury; 11th selection)
• Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun; 5th selection)
• A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces; 6th selection)
• Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces; 3rd selection)

The top-10 vote-getters (determined by 50 percent fan vote, 25 percent player vote and 25 percent media panel vote) were, in alphabetical order: Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Dearica Hamby, Sabrina Ionescu, Arike Ogunbowale, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young. Clark finished first in the fan vote (700,735), followed by Boston (618,680), Wilson (607,300), Stewart (424,135) and Reese (381,518).

The remaining spots on Team WNBA were filled by the league’s 12 head coaches, as they selected five frontcourt players, three backcourt players and four players from any position from a list of the next 36-highest vote-getters, although coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players. The starters for both Team WNBA and Team USA will be determined by the team’s respective head coaches.

In 2021, the WNBA All-Star Game first featured Team WNBA vs. Team USA, with Arike Ogunbowale winning MVP honors as she led the All-Stars past the Olympians, 93-85.

Expectations can lead to disappointment, and that’s certainly true in a few situations this WNBA season. Here are three of the most disappointing storylines so far:

Caitlin Clark fatigue

I have the attention on Clark as both a surprise and a disappointment. Seeing the league get an influx of attention has been a joy. However, it’s been disappointing watching people use Clark to push their own agendas in ways that often feel sexist and racist.

I hope that as the season continues, I’ll be less and less disappointed with the drama created by Clark’s existence. She’s really just playing basketball and doing well, so if people can enjoy her game and the league’s talent, we can all get along. If not, this may be an ongoing trend for years.

What’s up with the Aces?

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The Aces used to be considered THE superpower in the WNBA, but they’ve looked pedestrian this year. Currently 11-6, the Aces have already matched their loss total for last year. And with the Minnesota Lynx surprising us all as a top-four team and the Commissioner’s Cup champions, suddenly, not only do the Aces look beatable, they also aren’t the favorites to win it all.

Now, it should be noted that Vegas was missing Chelsea Gray for most of the season, and with the Point Gawd returning, they’ve looked much better, winning five-straight games. Still, if they continue to struggle to stack up wins and the dynasty talk ends not with a three-peat but with a whimper in the playoffs, it will be hard not to be disappointed in the Aces.

The losers are losing

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In the WNBA, there is no middle class, just the haves and the have-nots. In 2024, the gap between the two categories has increased, with three teams currently with a winning percentage below .300. Last year, only two teams ended the season with winning percentages that low.

This is the most competitive league in the basketball world, and that competitiveness means that if you don’t have three or more All-Star-caliber players, you have no chance of winning games on a nightly basis. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics and Dallas Wings fall into that category, and that’s disappointing.

Hopefully, as the league grows, so will cap space and roster size so we can have a bit more balance. At this point, it feels like these three teams have no hope for this season and are already jockeying for position in the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes. That’s not ideal, with over half of the season remaining to play.