WNBA All-Star 2023: Defending champion Las Vegas Aces to serve as host for the third time

WNBA All-Star Weekend will run from July 14-15

The defending champion Las Vegas Aces will host the 2023 WNBA All-Star Weekend, the league announced on Thursday. This is the third time that the event has taken place in Las Vegas, and this year's festivities will run from July 14-15. Only Uncasville, Connecticut, home of the Sun, has hosted more times. 

In addition to the 19th edition of the All-Star Game (the game is not played during Olympic years, which is why there hasn't been one every season) on Saturday, the league has once again brought back the Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest. Those two events will take place on Friday. 

"The WNBA is thrilled to bring AT&T WNBA All-Star 2023, to Las Vegas, a city that showed such incredible support for the Aces and the WNBA throughout last season, especially during the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV when the Aces brought the city its first professional sports championship," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a press release. 

There will also be an interactive fan festival called "WNBA Live," a new initiative the league debuted last year at the 2022 All-Star Weekend in Chicago to mixed results. Further details will be released at a later date, but the league stated that the goal is to give fans "an opportunity to experience the intersection of the WNBA, entertainment and culture."

While nothing official has been confirmed, the captain's picks format will likely return for the fourth time in the past five All-Star Games. Assuming that's the case, the two players who receive the most fan votes will select their teams from the All-Star pool in a televised draft, and the teams will be named after their captains. Last year, for example, featured Team A'ja Wilson against Team Breanna Stewart. 

The WNBA's 27th regular season will tip-off on Friday, May 19th, and will see teams play a record 40 games.