Kayla McBride didn’t make the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game roster. However, Minnesota Lynx vet’s historic outing against the Dallas Wings on August 9 has convinced Cheryl Reeve that McBride deserved a spot.
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McBride finished the game with a career-high 43 points on outstanding efficiency, going 16-21 from the field. However, more impressively, she also broke the single-game record for threes made, making 10 of her 14 attempts while leading the Lynx to a win.
“I think the incredible thing about Mac is, well, first of all, she’s an All-WNBA player,” Reeve told the media, per KARE 11 News’s J.T. Messinger and Will Hall.
“It’s disgraceful she was not an All-Star. All-WNBA player, who chased Paige around while dropping 43, and so she just knows that’s her job. She embraces it, loves it. Obviously, her starting to find the bottom really helped us get separation and kind of gave us a bit of a lift at a time when we were kind of really clunky in that first half.”
McBride’s 10th three-pointer came with 2:23 remaining, pushing Minnesota’s lead to 98-83 and making her the first player in WNBA history to hit 10 threes in a single game. The previous mark of nine had been reached eight times by six players, but no one had broken into double digits until McBride’s historic finishing burst against Dallas.
Even after Kelsey Plum was injured, despite many arguing in McBride’s favor, Phoenix guard Kahleah Copper featured in the All-Star Game on July 25.
McBride was the engine of the offense for the Lynx tonight, who beat the Dallas Wings 103-90 in yet another outstanding offensive display, something that has become a pattern for them. Minnesota has surpassed 100 points in four of their last six games, all of them wins.
Paige Bueckers put up a valiant effort for the Wings, scoring 23 points on 15 shots, but was hounded by McBride all game, forcing her into an inefficient six turnovers.
Apart from breaking the single-game record for threes made, McBride also reached another milestone in the same game, surpassing former Lynx great Seimone Augustus on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list. Her 43-point performance lifted her to 6,013 career points, moving her into 19th place in league history.
With this win, the Lynx have won 12 of their last 13, with a league-leading 27-7 record as they continue to sit atop the standings. While a surprising loss against the Los Angeles Sparks broke their 10-game win streak, Minnesota has bounced back with two wins in a row.
The team’s success makes Reeve’s frustration all the more understandable. Despite the team holding the best record in the league and having two All-Stars in Natasha Howard and Olivia Miles, McBride not being a part of that group is a strange omission.
The veteran leads the league in total minutes played this season and has played every single game for the Lynx while being the team’s second-leading scorer behind Miles. Last season, she was named an All-Star despite having worse box-score numbers.
She is currently averaging 17.6 points and 3.3 rebounds, with a 45.4 field goal percentage in 33 games. Last season, she averaged 14.2 points and 41.6% on field goals while playing 39 games.
With the Lynx headlining the standings and McBride’s form looking as strong as ever, the All-Star snub could look even worse by the time the season ends. However, it doesn’t seem to phase McBride at the moment as her focus remains with the team.
Kayla McBride’s pride for the Lynx shines bright
At 34, the Lynx guard is posting a personal-best 18.4 points per game, launching more attempts than in any previous campaign and hitting 42.4% from deep. Her shooting has been a major spark for Minnesota, and she is making the most of every opportunity.
“The last time I played with a true point guard was Courtney Vandersloot, and it was some of the best, most fun basketball that I played,” McBride said postgame during the press conference. “It’s not that I haven’t had amazing moments with Court, but there’s just something about playing with a true PG that just as a shooter, you get that ball on the laces with that velocity. It’s just like a kid in a candy store.”
Her current pace recalls 2018, when McBride averaged 18 points across 31 games for the Las Vegas Aces and received an All-Star nod. She returned to the All-Star stage in 2024 and 2025, but neither of those seasons featured the same scoring punch she has brought in 2026.
In the end, McBride and the Lynx have let their basketball do the talking, capped by her record-breaking night against Dallas. The season still has plenty of runway, but each new performance adds weight to the question of how she was left out.