Consider WNBA legend Candace Parker not a fan of this year’s All-Star game.<\/p>\n
During the WNBA’s marquee event, Team Napheesa Collier beat Team Caitlin Clark in a 151-131 blowout win in Indianapolis that most can agree was more of a friendly backyard shoot-around than a serious professional matchup.<\/p>\n
But Parker took issue with how casually the players went into the game, given that they wore “Pay us what you owe us” warm-up shirts<\/a> and are in the middle of tense CBA negotiations with the league<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The game, I’m gonna be honest with you Aliyah, it was awful,” Parker said on her new podcast, Post Moves, co-hosted with Aliyah Boston<\/a>. “Y’all cannot come out there with those shirts, ‘Pay us what you owe us,’ and then do that in the All-Star game. … I just think that it would have really maximized the moment of wearing the shirt along with giving the product. I tried to watch the All-Star game, I’ll be honest, but after one slow Euro step I was like, ‘I can’t. I’m a fan of the WNBA and I can’t watch this.'”<\/p>\n The three-time WNBA champ emphasized that the players didn’t have to put forth a competitive game, but that they squandered an “opportunity” to capitalize on the momentum built by their empowering shirts.<\/p>\n “I think it was just an opportunity, to me, on one of the biggest stages with those shirts being worn,” continued Parker. “Everyone always talks about how the NBA does not play in All-Star games, but guess what? They come down, they do windmills, they do stuff like that. … I understand that it is challenging, you all were added four to five games more this season without compensation which is unfair. But I think on one of the biggest stages with people tuned in, in an All-Star setting that was invested in more than any other All-Star game previously, without Caitlin Clark\u2014I think it was an opportunity to really go out there and [play].”<\/p>\n Candace Parker Strait cooked for almost 3 minutes pic.twitter.com\/cGUnTWd5Xu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Krysta (@Krysta____) July 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Boston countered with the argument that players received very little rest leading up to All-Star weekend<\/a> (on top of their elongated 44-game season) and were just trying to “hoop and have some fun.”<\/p>\n Both Parker and Boston make fair points, and it’ll be interesting to see if the WNBA makes any changes to the All-Star game in the future to give both the players and the fans what they want. <\/p>\n More WNBA on Sports Illustrated