Team Collier spoiled the party for the Indiana faithful. Normally, there’s no “home team” in an All-Star Game, but with Caitlin Clark as the city’s adopted superstar, the crowd’s allegiance was crystal clear, even in her absence, fans were all-in on Team Clark. That only fueled Team Collier, who steamrolled to a 151-131 win, shattering the record for most points ever in a WNBA All-Star Game. Team Clark was never in the hunt, as Collier’s squad maintained a dominant 20-point cushion from start to finish.

Collier herself put on an MVP-worthy showcase, dropping 36 points and pulling in nine boards, which was simply too much for Team Clark to handle. Still, for all the fireworks, the game’s intensity felt like it was running on fumes. As New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu explained afterward, there was a reason the competitive fire just wasn’t there.

She told the media, “I think it probably would have been a little bit more competitive if teams didn’t play in such a short amount of days. And I think that’s something as we’re talking obviously into our CBA and understanding like all Stars don’t really have a break. We finish we get on a flight the next day.” 

The game was already compromised because of the condensed scheduling, as a couple of the all-stars were out with injuries. Caitlin Clark reinjured her groin while Satou Sabally was already out with an ankle injury. Among the players already participating, Angel Reese recently missed a game to prevent any further complications, so she was not putting in 100% effort. 

She further said, “And so I think that’s something obviously as players. We want to be able to come out here during this time, put on a great show for the fans, but also take care of our bodies because we don’t have time. We enter now a grueling second half of the season and teams are trying to make playoff pushes. Players are trying to get back from injury, and so I think obviously that’s something as players we got to continue to stand on is maybe trying to get a few more days to where you know we can have a little bit more competitiveness in these games.”

The league’s expansion, which involved adding a new team and packing more games into the same tight window, has set off a cascade of problems. Players like Satou Sabally are slogging through grueling stretches, sometimes 9 games in 18 days. Sabrina Ionescu has had runs of 8 games with barely a day to recover in between. The result? An alarming spike in injuries: The Next’s tracker has already logged more than 141 injuries this season, fast approaching last year’s total of 203 and blowing past 2023’s 175.

With careers on the line and leaguewide examples piling up right in front of them, players have every reason to hold back rather than risk everything for a flashy All-Star Game. The broken system doesn’t just wear down bodies, it drains any incentive for athletes to put on a show at midseason, leaving fans and the league shortchanged. With more teams set to be added from next year onwards, this problem will likely compound further. 

New Teams to Worsen Old Problems

The Golden State Valkyries are having a dream season. They solde out their season tickets before tip off and have the highest average attendance in the league. On the court, they are doing just as good with a 10-12 record so far. The league is set to add a team each till 2030 which will bring the league to 30 teams. And considering how the injuries have spiked up after just one more team its concerning how the situation will unfold next year onwards. 

The CBA caps how many regular-season games the WNBA can squeeze into a year. This season, the league maxed out at 44, up from just 32 in 2021. With expansion and rising TV money, pressure is mounting to add even more. But the real issue isn’t the growing game count. It’s that all these games still have to fit into the same tight window as before. Stretching the schedule further is a logistical minefield.

Pushing the season past October would cut into players’ lucrative overseas opportunities, even if bigger WNBA paychecks soften the blow. The roster issue is just as urgent: teams are still allowed only 12 spots, so when injuries inevitably mount, franchises patch holes using short-term hardship contracts. With the player talent pool expanding and injury numbers climbing, this Band-Aid approach simply won’t hold.

At least six WNBA teams share their home arenas with NBA teams, meaning they directly compete for availability as the NBA season ramps up in October. The big brother NBA takes precedence over the W. And if that was not complicated enough, there are NHL teams who act as tenants of the facilities.  Along with infrastructure, there are TV slots which the WNBA will not get beyond October because of other leagues.

It operates on multiple networks currently, and the rest of the leagues are in their off-season. It won’t be the case if the season goes beyond October. These problems make the resolution of many of the problems very difficult. It begs the question of whether this was too early and too ambitious for the league, especially with the CBA situation unresolved. 

Ultimately, the WNBA’s rapid expansion and relentless scheduling, compounded by multiple conflicts, have created a system where player health and game quality suffer. The strain is already evident in mounting injuries, diminished All-Star competitiveness, and growing uncertainty about the league’s direction. Without substantial adjustments to the calendar, roster sizes, and resource allocation, the risk is that increased ambition will outpace the league’s ability to protect its most vital asset: its players.