All-Star weekend in Chicago gave the WNBA's players more chances to be photographed than to play. Between the Shooting Stars competition, the 3-Point Contest, the meet and greets, the panels, the podcast tapings and the parties, the orange carpet ran almost continuously around Saturday night's game.
The result is a weekend that now functions as two events at once, and the wardrobe half is no longer an afterthought.
Three approaches
The looks sorted themselves into rough camps. Some players arrived in street style, like Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, who walked Saturday's carpet in a Jay-Z and Yankees jacket with the matching hat.
Others went glamorous, among them the four time MVP A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and Kiki Iriafen of the Washington Mystics. A third group went tailored, treating the arrival as a suiting opportunity rather than a sportswear one.
The Coach effect
Coach is the WNBA's official luxury handbag partner, and the partnership was visible everywhere. The brand dressed a long list of players including its global ambassador Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, and the StudBudz pair of Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman.
Reese's custom look was the one built most deliberately for the cameras: a baby pink varsity jacket with a beaded satin Teri bag, an outfit designed to read instantly in a photograph.
Williams and Hiedeman took custom jackets of their own, hers paired with denim shorts from the label's Brain Dead collaboration.
The rookie who won twice
Azzi Fudd, the number one pick of the 2026 draft, arrived in a plaid blazer with a leather bralette, flared jeans and a quilted Tabby, finished with the basketball bag charm the brand made for the league.
She then won the 3-Point Contest, becoming the first rookie ever to take it. Which is the useful thing about an arrivals carpet at a sporting event: the outfit is only ever the opening argument.