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Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu will be foes for a day. 

The Liberty stars were taken off the board early by separate captains during Tuesday’s 2025 WNBA All-Star draft on ESPN’s pregame show ahead of the Liberty-Aces matchup. 

All-Star captain Napheesa Collier picked her former UConn teammate and fellow Unrivaled co-founder, Stewart, with the No. 2 pick. 

Fellow captain Caitlin Clark decided to take Ionescu off the board with the No. 3 pick, saying that she’s a “big fan of Sab.” 

Clark also initiated a stunning, and unprecedented, trade toward the end of the All-Star draft, as she suggested the two teams swap coaches. 

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was supposed to head Clark’s team, and Liberty coach Sandy Brondello was at the helm of Collier’s. Collier accepted the trade, meaning Brondello will coach Ionescu against Stewart in Indianapolis for the July 19 showcase. 

Clark did make a push at the end to bring Stewart to her team. 

“If you want to send Stewie over, I’ll take her,” said Clark, who offered Satou Sabally. 

Collier thought about it for a minute before telling Clark to “sweeten the deal.” Clark countered by encouraging Collier to propose a trade that would unite Stewart, Ionescu and Brondello. 

“To make this spicy.… You have to give me your No. 1 overall pick and your teammate Aliyah Boston,” Collier said. 

“Absolutely not,” Clark immediately said. “I don’t even think Phee meant that. I think she just wanted to see me react.” 

Clark said she was picking her team off “vibes” and wanted to have fun. 

Clark’s full roster included: Boston and Kelsey Mitchell (Fever), A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young (Aces), Satou Sabally (Mercury), Gabby Williams (Storm), Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen (Mystics), and Kayla Thornton (Valkyries.) 

Meanwhile, Collier used the national TV time to represent and shout out Unrivaled as much as possible. Collier, who was wearing an Unrivaled shirt, picked several of her Lunar Owls teammates — including Allisha Gray (Dream), Skylar Diggins (Storm) and Courtney Williams (Lynx.) 

Collier’s roster also features Nneka Ogwumike (Storm), Paige Bueckers (Wings), Angel Reese (Sky), Alyssa Thomas (Mercury), Kelsey Plum (Sparks) and Rhyne Howard (Dream.) 

Collier and Stewart played one season together at UConn before the latter was drafted No. 1 in 2016. 

This is Stewart’s seventh All-Star recognition and Ionescu’s fourth. Brondello is making her first All-Star appearance as a coach since 2018.