All Stars

The elite athletes of the WNBA know how to score style points both on and off the court.

- Sarah Cristobal

Basketball is the great equalizer. It doesn’t discriminate on the basis of skin color or socioeconomic background. Either you can play or you can’t. It’s a game that requires a certain amount of attitude, style, and grace, which these women, six of the greatest in the WNBA, all have. But those aren’t their only attributes. They are also compassionate leaders who give back to their respective communities. Their voices need to be amplified, their work celebrated. So this past July, InStyle traveled to Minneapolis during the WNBA’s All-Star Games weekend to capture these ballers all together for a fashion shoot—remarkably the first in the league’s 22-year history. (“We’ve always been told that magazine editors wouldn’t be able to pull clothes in their sizes,” admitted one agent on set.)

Only 12 teams are in the league, and this year the WNBA athletes have been outspoken on the subjects of better pay and travel conditions, especially given what their male counterparts are accustomed to. Of the 144 players in the WNBA, 89 signed up to play during the off season in leagues overseas, where the salaries are much higher. “I realize that we aren’t pulling in nearly as much as the NBA, but I think that falls back on the lack of media coverage and the lack of big-name companies supporting women,” says Washington Mystic Elena Delle Donne. “And to be a fan, you have to be able to see people. You want to know their story. You want to see them on billboards. You want to see them in commercials. There’s just not enough of that in women’s sports.” Get to know the women who are moving the ball forward.

ELENA DELLE DONNE

Washington Mystics