Caitlin Clark remains firmly in the 2026 WNBA All-Star conversation, but the first fan-voting returns have delivered a notable twist: the Indiana Fever guard is no longer setting the pace in the public ballot that she dominated a year ago.

The WNBA’s first release of All-Star fan voting placed Clark fifth overall with 253,602 votes, behind Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson, Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, Indiana teammate Aliyah Boston and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart. Wilson led with 308,249 votes, Bueckers followed with 298,027, Boston had 282,186 and Stewart had 255,879.

The numbers made Clark the headline because of the comparison with last year’s first returns. In 2025, Clark led the opening fan vote with 515,993 votes, according to CBS Sports’ tabulation of the WNBA release. This year, she is still comfortably within the top tier, but her first-return total is less than half of that earlier opening mark.

The Athletic’s June 24 WNBA coverage framed the issue around Clark’s All-Star voting drop-off while also noting the league’s anniversary moment, a pairing that fits the broader story of the 2026 season. The WNBA is celebrating its 30th season, and the early ballot is showing a league with more recognizable names, more active fan bases and more plausible All-Star captains than at almost any point in its history.

The WNBA has also structured the final days of voting to invite a late push. Fan voting opened June 11 and runs through June 27 at 11:59 p.m. ET. June 24 is the last of the league’s three “2-for-1 Days,” when votes submitted through WNBA.com and the WNBA App count twice. The All-Star Game is scheduled for July 25 at United Center in Chicago and will air on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Clark’s lower rank should not be read as a basketball downturn. She has remained central to Indiana’s season and, according to Athlon Sports, scored 24 points with eight assists in the Fever’s 86-77 win over the Phoenix Mercury on June 22. Indiana also promoted a milestone after that game, saying Clark became the first WNBA player to record at least 20 points and five assists in six consecutive games.

That distinction matters because All-Star voting often mixes several forces: current production, name recognition, team success, market activity, social-media campaigning and voter fatigue. Clark continues to bring the first two in abundance. What has changed is the surrounding field. Wilson is a four-time MVP and remains one of the league’s dominant two-way players. Bueckers, now in Dallas, has quickly converted college stardom into professional All-Star support. Boston gives Indiana a second top-three vote-getter. Stewart remains one of the sport’s most established championship-level players.

The distribution of votes also points to a league that is no longer operating through one national attention funnel. CBS Sports reported that total votes for the top 40 players were down from the first returns last year, but the top of the 2026 ballot is more tightly grouped. Wilson, Bueckers, Boston, Stewart and Clark were separated by fewer than 55,000 votes in the first release, leaving room for movement before the fan portion closes.

The voting system further limits how much the fan ballot alone can determine the final starter pool. Fans account for 50% of starter voting, while current WNBA players and media members each account for 25%. Reserves are chosen by coaches. That means Clark’s current fifth-place fan position is important, but it is not the entire selection process, and it does not directly settle the final All-Star roster.

For the Fever, the returns are still a sign of unusual fan strength. Indiana placed two players in the top five, with Boston third and Clark fifth. That is a meaningful marker for a franchise that has become one of the league’s most closely followed teams during Clark’s rise. It also gives Indiana a clear incentive to keep pushing fans through the final voting window, especially on the June 24 double-vote day.

For the WNBA, the ballot is a useful anniversary-season case study. The league launched its 30th-season celebration before the 2026 campaign, emphasizing both its history and its current growth phase. The All-Star vote now reflects that dual identity: legacy names such as Stewart and Wilson remain highly valued, while newer stars such as Clark and Bueckers are reshaping the league’s audience and media economy.

The anniversary context also cuts against an overly narrow reading of Clark’s drop-off. Her 2024 arrival helped accelerate WNBA viewership, ticket demand and mainstream sports coverage, but the league’s next test is whether that attention can be converted into a broader, more durable ecosystem. A ballot led by Wilson, nearly topped by Bueckers and still featuring Clark near the top suggests a widening star economy rather than a disappearance of Clark’s influence.

The business stakes are visible around All-Star weekend itself. Chicago’s United Center gives the league a major-market stage, ABC provides broadcast reach, and the fan vote creates daily engagement during the middle of the regular season. Player rankings become content, team campaigns become marketing assets, and voting momentum becomes a proxy for where the WNBA’s expanding fan communities are most active.

There is also a competitive layer. Clark’s Fever are trying to build consistency around a core that includes Boston, and Clark’s recent scoring-and-assist streak reinforces her on-court case. Wilson’s lead reflects elite production and established stature. Bueckers’ second-place position shows how quickly a rookie-year brand can become a professional voting force. Stewart’s continued top-five presence underscores the staying power of proven title contenders.

The next checkpoint is whether the final fan returns narrow or reverse the current order. Clark’s fan base has shown it can mobilize quickly, and the final double-vote day gives Fever supporters a clear mechanism to close ground. But even if Wilson or Bueckers remains ahead, the larger WNBA story is not simply that Clark has slipped. It is that the league’s 30th season now has enough stars, teams and fan bases to make the top of the All-Star ballot genuinely competitive.