Gamecock great Aliyah Boston earns WNBA All-Star starter nod as a rookie
Aliyah Boston is a WNBA All-Star.
And a WNBA All-Star starter.
The league announced Boston, a rookie forward-center for the Indiana Fever, as one of its 10 All-Star starters on Sunday — the latest in a long line of achievements for the former South Carolina women’s basketball great and No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 WNBA Draft.
“Another blessing. God is so good all the time,” Boston posted to Twitter.
Boston was one of six frontcourt players voted as All-Star starters. Former Gamecocks standout A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, the league’s reigning MVP, was also among that group and earned her fifth All-Star appearances in six seasons. Wilson is one of the game’s captains.
In addition to Boston and Wilson, the other All-Star starters are Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury; forward Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty; forward Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks; forward Satou Sabally of the Dallas Wings; guard Chelsea Gray of the Aces; guard Jewell Lloyd of the Seattle Storm; guard Arike Ogunbowale of the Wings; and guard Jackie Young of the Aces.
Boston is the eighth rookie in WNBA history to be named an All-Star starter and the first since the Atlanta Dream’s Shoni Schimmel in 2014. She’s also the fourth player in Fever history to earn All-Star starter status and first since Tamika Catchings.
The WNBA selected its All-Stars without conference affiliation and drew from three groups for selecting its 10 starters: fans (50% of the vote), current players (25%) and media (25%).
The league’s 12 All-Star reserves, which are voted on exclusively by head coaches, were selected after the starters announcement and will be revealed next Saturday.
The two captains will then draft their rosters from the remaining pool of eight All-Star starters – Boston’s group – and then the 12 reserves in a July 8 selection special. The 2023 WNBA All-Star Game is set for July 15 in Las Vegas.
Boston, recently named the WNBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week, is averaging 15.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 blocks and 29.4 minutes per game and has started all 13 games for the Fever this season.
She continues to lead all WNBA players in field goal percentage (65.1%), and she leads all rookies in points, rebounds, blocks and minutes per game.
The 6-5 Boston has made an immediate impact for the Fever, who were a league-worst 5-31 last season but have already matched that win total from last year at 5-8 through Sunday. Four of those wins have come in the team’s last 10 games.
Boston — who appeared in three Final Fours, made three AP All-America first teams and won a 2022 national championship at USC — was the second No. 1 pick in school history behind Wilson, who was picked first by the Aces in 2018.
This story was originally published June 25, 2023 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Gamecock great Aliyah Boston earns WNBA All-Star starter nod as a rookie."
