Sun guard Nykesha Sales, to the Boston
Globe:
''Yeah, I can dunk, but nobody asks me to do
it, like 'Lis, [Leslie] you going to dunk?' Nobody says, 'Kesh, you going to dunk?'
So I'm waiting for my opportunity. I'm waiting until I hear the cheers from the
crowd, too. Shoot. I ain't going to just do it when nobody wants me to."
Eastern Conference coach Mike Thibault, as told to the Hartford Courant:
"I
told our team before the game I wanted to get 100 points, but I didn't mean for
the other team to do it," said East coach Mike Thibault of the Connecticut Sun."
Mystics guard Alana Beard,
on fellow All-Star and former teammate chamique Holdsclaw:
"I'm
really proud of her, the way she's come through things. She had a hard road last
year. I'm just so happy to see her back on the right track. She's very happy where
she is, and that's the most important thing."
Dawn Staley on Diana Taurasi:
"I think she's gonna
be the ambassador of this game. We need her because she's different."
 |
| Dawn
Staley may have played in her last WNBA All-Star Game. Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty Images |
Staley, on her
All-Star experience: Mercury
guard Diana Taurasi:
"You can't take this too seriously.
Obviously, you want to win, but if we lost this game, it's not like it's for the
national championship. If you're not going to have fun out here, you don't belong."
Western Conference coach Anne Donovan:
"You've
got a lot of points on the board, you've got rebounding, you've got a dunk. What
more do you want? Just a great experience."
2005 WNBA All-Star MVP Sheryl Swoopes, after receiving her award:
"I
feel like I'm representing the older, more experienced players."
Liberty center Ann Wauters, on what finally made her an All-Star:
"I'd
get pushed away so easily and then I'd have to go that much farther. But I've
bulked up."
Marie Ferdinand,
on her stay at the Mohegan Sun this past weekend:
"It's
a distraction, is what it is. You can get caught in that little casino and be
all messed up before the game, be all stressed because you lost so much money.
But you know what? It's a great place. But it's messed up because it's so tempting
to do something. Like Ben & Jerry's. I know I'm not supposed to have that before
a game but I might have a scoop, and it messes you up. That's why the Sun are
undefeated at home [this season]. Players get distracted, I'm telling you. The
routine is all messed up in Connecticut."
Storm guard Sue Bird, on being back in Connecticut:
"It
was good to hang out with Coach Auriemma."
Sparks center Lisa Leslie, on her second-career dunk in a WNBA game:
"I
didn't even really know what was going on. But I had the ball, they told me to
dunk, so I dunked."
Dawn Staley,
on the emergence of Temeka Johnson as a star in the league:
"She's
got my all-star vote. I think you'll see her in a bunch of these before her career
is over. She's quick. She's tough. She has great vision. People might talk about
her being small but you can't talk about the small game to me. She's having a
tremendous season."
Anne Donovan,
on the play of Yolanda Griffith so far this season:
"Yolanda
is just in a different league. I have so much respect for her and what she's done
for the game of women's basketball. For her to still be an All-Star at this point
in her career and recognized by the fans as a starter is a tremendous credit to
her and what she's done."
Storm
executive Karen Bryant, on the possiblity of Seattle hosting an All-Star Game
in the future:
"I think with our growth in attendance
and winning a championship, we sent a strong message to the league that we can
fill that building. Seattle is a great WNBA town, but when it would happen is
really up to them."
Sun center
Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who was surprised by her husband at the game, who is
currently stationed overseas with the military, as told to the Hartford Courant:
"It's
the good you give out that comes back. You'll be blessed in the end. The Lord
blessed me. ... A wonderful husband and to play on a great basketball team at
35. How many people can say that?”