Kristi Toliver named to 2019 WNBA All-Star Game

On Monday, the WNBA announced that Mystics guard Kristi Toliver was named to the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game. This is Toliver’s third time as a WNBA All-Star and second with the Mystics.

Toliver is averaging 12.1 points and a career-high 5.7 assists for the Mystics this season. She is also shooting a career-high 49.7 percent from the field.

Though the Mystics are third place in the WNBA with a 9-6 record and was first place before a couple losses last week, Washington still has only two players in the All-Star Game. Elena Delle Donne won the most votes and was named a captain for the second consecutive year.

Part of the reason why the Mystics still struggle with starpower, even in the “EDD Era” may be because Emma Meesseman was out for most of June through early July so she could participate in Women’s EuroBasket for Belgium. To at least some people, she is considered the Mystics’ second best player if not their best one outright. But the players this season have also been quick to mention that she is a luxury and not a necessity for their long term success.

I can’t blame the players who concur with this because Meesseman’s commitment to the American game and the WNBA has been deteriorating in the last couple years with Belgium becoming relevant on the world stage.

At the same time, a player like Meesseman would be like a Dirk Nowitzki if the WNBA had more international-friendly rules. So to me, it’s a tragedy that we are in an era where we are minimizing her presence simply because she holds a maroon European Union passport, not a navy blue American one. I’ll have something more on the topic on Swish Appeal, SB Nation’s WNBA blog later this week on the topic at large.

But yeah, this is where the WNBA’s at when it comes to non-Americans.

Back to the topic at hand, congratulations to Kristi for making her third WNBA All-Star game appearance!