Wilson and Stewart go with familiar choices in WNBA All-Star Game draft #Wilson #Stewart #familiar #choices #WNBA #AllStar #Game #draft

NEW YORK (AP) — A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart made the WNBA All-Star draft about picking their current and former teammates.

Wilson took her Las Vegas Aces teammates Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young with her first two picks in the draft Saturday. She drafted Kelsey Plum as her top reserve choice, keeping all four Aces players together for the game that will be played in Las Vegas next Saturday. Wilson’s team will be coached by the Aces’ Becky Hammon.

“I mean, listen, you need to have a great point guard when it comes to games like this and I feel like she is going to be great,” Wilson said of Gray. “She’s going to be dropping dimes everywhere, going to get us in the flow. And that’s what makes a good team great, is a great point guard, so I had to go with Chelsea.”

Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally brings the ball up during the team's WNBA basketball game against the Phoenix Mercury, June 7, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. Satou and Nyara Sabally were never competitive against each other growing up in Germany. Their mom made sure of that. The sisters, two years apart in age, will play against each other for the first time ever when Dallas visits New York on Sunday. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Natasha Howard made two free throws with less than a second to play and the Dallas Wings handed the Las Vegas Aces just their second loss, pulling out an 80-78 win.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) celebrates after making a basket during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Seattle Storm, Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier are starting a new women’s basketball league to give top players another option to play in the U.S. in the offseason once the league’s prioritization rules go into effect next year.

FILE - Dallas Wings guard Odyssey Sims works against the Phoenix Mercury during a WNBA basketball game, Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. Seven years ago, Odyssey Sims was the hometown girl and co-star of the Dallas Wings, helping introduce the WNBA to a new Texas market. Five teams and the birth of a child later, Sims is on her second contract of the season in a return to the Wings, mature enough to call the younger version of herself a bad teammate while knowing she has to be a good one for the current faces of the franchise, Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

Odyssey Sims is feeling a full-circle moment as she returns to the WNBA’s Dallas Wings. She was the hometown girl and co-star when the franchise moved to the Dallas area from Tulsa seven years ago.

Breanna Stewart, left, of the New York Liberty WNBA basketball team waits for coffee after traveling for most of the day at Harry Reid International Airport while traveling with the team Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

The New York Liberty’s three-game road trip last week included multiple bus trips, two airplanes and three airports on the way from Connecticut to Las Vegas.

Stewart took New York’s starting backcourt of Courtney Vandersloot and Sabrina Ionescu with her top two choices in the reserve draft. She made Brittney Griner her overall No. 1 pick in the draft. Griner is making her return to the All-Star Game a year after she was an honorary pick while she was detained in Russia.

“BG is my pick just because the way that she’s continuing to carry herself on and off the court,” Stewart said. “I think we can all say it’s impressive what she’s doing and she’s a dominant presence inside. We need her dunks, we need her energy, we need her everything.”

Both Wilson and Stewart stuck with choosing players that either they played with or went to the same college as much as possible in the draft. Wilson took South Carolina Gamecocks alumni Aliyah Boston and Allisha Gray.

Stewart drafted her former Seattle teammates Jewell Loyd and Ezi Magbegor. The New York Liberty’s star also drafted former UConn teammate Naphessa Collier.

Other players drafted by Wilson included starter Arike Ogunbowale and reserves Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, Cheyenne Parker and Elena Delle Donne.

Stewart’s team also includes starters Satou Sabally and Nneka Ogwumike and reserves Kelsey Mitchell and Kahleah Copper.