Chicago expected to host 2022 WNBA All-Star Game

The WNBA champion Sky are expected to host the All-Star Game in July, multiple sources told the Sun-Times on Thursday.

The game is scheduled for July 10, according to the league’s website, and will be played at Wintrust Arena, sources said. Details still need to be formalized before the league announces the game.

Plans are already in the works for venues to host parties and events, a source said, but companies are staying quiet about details until the league makes the game official.

This will be the first year Chicago hosts the game, which was first played in 1999 in New York and saw Lisa Leslie crowned MVP. Since then, it has been played in New York twice, Connecticut four times and most recently in Las Vegas in back-to-back years.

The Sky have never had an All-Star MVP, but Candace Parker won it with the Sparks in 2013, her sixth year in the league. Last year, the Sky had three All-Stars: Parker, Courtney Vandersloot and Kahleah Copper. Allie Quigley won the three-point contest.

Chicago hosted the NBA All-Star Game in February 2020 after a 32-year hiatus. It came one month before the league shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.