The WNBA Minnesota Lynx have "submitted a formal bid" to host the '18 All-Star Game at Target Center, according to Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. The team is in the "middle of a historic run, there’s an enthusiastic and dependable fan base that has followed the Lynx over to St. Paul this summer and the newly renovated, gleaming Target Center will be ready in three months." Lynx Owner Glen Taylor said, "Right now is the right time for us to do it. This is a team that is winning, with the great players we have. We have a new practice facility and the Target Center. Just everything. There is a lot to show off." Now the team will "await the league’s decision, which could come at any time between this year’s All Star break and the fall." Neither the Lynx nor the WNBA will "discuss how many teams have bid" for the '18 game. Youngblood noted the game would "bolster an already full lineup of major sporting events in the Twin Cities" in '18 that includes Super Bowl LI, the women’s and men’s NCAA Frozen Four and the NCAA volleyball Final Four. The men’s basketball Final Four will come in '19 (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/18).
MISSING STAR POWER: The AP's Doug Feinberg noted Phoenix Mercury C Brittney Griner and Washington Mystics F Elena Delle Donne are "expected to miss" the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday in Seattle. This is the third time that Delle Donne has missed the event "because of injury or illness." She had a concussion in '13 and a recurrence of Lyme Disease in '14. Griner also missed the '13 game because of a knee injury (AP, 7/18).
