The 2019 WNBA All-Star Game might be a strange sight to seasoned basketball watchers.
The showcase contest will include zany rules such as live, tag-in substitutions and a shortened shock clock, the WNBA announced Thursday. The “experimental” rules are aimed at increasing the pace of play.
The live substitutions allow players to enter the game without waiting for play to stop. The All-Star must leave the bench for the midcourt “player check-in spot,” where a teammate can tag her into the game while the ball is in play. Each team only can make one live substitution per quarter. Only the offensive team can make such a personnel change, and the ball-handler can’t tag herself out.
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier suspects the live substitutions will cause “mass chaos.”
“I think it’s a little weird,” Collier told SB Nation’s Matt Ellentuck on Thursday. “I don’t know why we’re doing that … I have a feeling it’s going to be like mass chaos with people running on and off the court.”
Furthermore, the WNBA will shorten the shot clock from 24 to 20 seconds. When a player grabs an offensive rebound, the shot clock will reset to 14 seconds, instead of the customary 24.
The 2019 WNBA All-Star Game will tip off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Las Vegas. Team A’ja Wilson will take on Team Elena Delle Donne, whose side includes Connecticut Sun stars Jonquel Jones will see Alyssa Thomas.
