“You shouldn’t have underestimated her” – Caitlin Clark shocks the league by TRADING Cheryl Reeve off the All-Star team in unprecedented move, leaving Sandy Brondello stunned and sparking debate over whether the rules even allow it

Caitlin Clark has rewritten the playbook for what an All-Star Game can be. In a jaw-dropping first for professional basketball, the rookie sensation orchestrated the removal of veteran coach Cheryl Reeve from the All-Star roster, swapping her out in favor of Sandy Brondello. Brondello’s own reaction was as candid as it was telling – questioning whether such a move was even allowed before flatly stating she didn’t care. What makes this move even more shocking is that it wasn’t done in jest or as a publicity stunt. By all accounts, this was calculated, deliberate, and completely unprecedented.

With no history of a player-initiated “coach trade” in either the WNBA or NBA, the ripple effects are already spreading across the league. Is Clark rewriting the culture of the game, or is this the start of a brewing power struggle? Dive into the full story to see what really went down courtside.

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What was the biggest storyline heading into the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game? Sure, Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier being named captains was huge. But what also had people buzzing was the full-circle moment of Clark being coached by the Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve after all the Olympic drama and last year’s All-Star game. The league had set the stage for it: Reeve would coach Team Clark, and Sandy Brondello would take over Team Collier. A perfect entertainment setup… until it wasn’t.

Well, at the end of the WNBA Countdown show, right when fans were still digesting the rosters, a trade came through – but it wasn’t a player. Clark traded coaches. She sent Reeve over to Team Collier (who plays for Reeve in Minnesota) and got Sandy Brondello in return. “I don’t know if this is in the rules, I don’t really care, but I think we’ve already discussed, we are going to trade coaches,” Clark explained. She announced that she was taking Team Collier’s coach, saying she didn’t care if it broke any rules. She joked that if it wasn’t allowed by the WNBA or ESPN, they’ll just make it a rule themselves. “Sandy Brondello, come on over let’s get to it,” CC added.

While it did raise eyebrows, coach Brondello sounded pretty chill about it. “I got traded. My son hit me up. I’ve created history, this is awesome. I got traded as a coach. I get to coach Sabrina and Caitlin Clark in Indianapolis… we’ll go out there and have fun,” she said. So, we didn’t get the Reeve-Clark fireworks everyone wanted, but we did get a historic coaching trade.

 

Clark didn’t explain much about the surprise coach swap, but fans couldn’t help but connect the dots. Remember, Cheryl Reeve coached Team USA, the same Olympic squad Caitlin Clark was left off of. And while Reeve has insisted she had no hand in the final decision, the move still raised eyebrows. Add to that the fact that Reeve had previously been vocal about the overwhelming attention Clark received heading into her rookie season.

Nonetheless, what’s done is done. Brondello will be coaching one of her own – Ionescu – on Team Clark, while she and Sab will go head-to-head with Breanna Stewart. As for Phee, it worked out perfectly. Her All-Star squad will now be coached by her own Lynx head coach. “I love Cheryl,” Collier expressed, before delivering some playful trash talk. “That’s just going to be worse for Team Clark, because now we’ve got more chemistry on our side, more synergy.”

But the move surely came as a surprise, especially since the player selections weren’t all that shocking. Clark, drafting off “vibes”, built herself a team around her friends. Her roster includes Fever teammates Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young from the Aces, Satou Sabally (Mercury), Gabby Williams (Storm), Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen (Mystics), and Valkyries’ Kayla Thornton.

On the other side, Collier, wearing an Unrivaled shirt proudly, picked several of her Lunar Owls teammates – like Allisha Gray (Dream), Skylar Diggins (Storm), and Courtney Williams (Lynx). She rounded out her squad with Nneka Ogwumike (Storm), Paige Bueckers (Wings), Angel Reese (Sky), Alyssa Thomas (Mercury), Kelsey Plum (Sparks), and Rhyne Howard (Dream).

It couldn’t have shaped up better for those rooting for the Indy trio and a UConn reunion. But that wasn’t all. Along with that, Indiana fans got another piece of great news.