Rebekkah Brunson, Sugar Rodgers added to WNBA All-Star Game

Minnesota Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson and New York Liberty guard Sugar Rodgers have been added to the rosters for Saturday's WNBA All-Star Game as replacement players, league president Lisa Borders announced Wednesday.

Brunson, a 14-year veteran who will be making her fourth All-Star appearance, replaces Phoenix center Brittney Griner on the West roster. A four-time WNBA champion, Brunson is the league's career leader in offensive rebounds (1,107).

Griner, the league's leading scorer at 22.3 points per game, is sidelined with knee and ankle injuries. She was among the reserves named Tuesday by the coaches.

Rodgers will make her All-Star debut as a replacement for injured Elena Delle Donne (ankle) on the East roster for Saturday's game (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET) at KeyArena in Seattle.

Rodgers also was named one of five participants in the WNBA 3-point contest, which will be held at halftime Saturday. She ranks third in the WNBA in 3-pointers made (39) and is averaging 12.7 points per game.

Additionally, Connecticut's Curt Miller will replace New York's Bill Laimbeer as the East coach. Laimbeer, who earned the right to coach the East All-Stars based on the Liberty's regular-season conference record in 2016, will miss the game to attend to a family matter, the league said.

Laimbeer's wife recently caught a virus while she was vacationing in Africa and was in the hospital for a few days. She's doing better but, according to Laimbeer, isn't back to 100 percent. With the Liberty on the road for nearly two weeks after the All-Star Game, Laimbeer wouldn't have had a chance to spend time with her.

"I asked for relief from the game. My wife's still struggling with it and I think it's best to spend some time with her," Laimbeer told The Associated Press. "These four days spending time with my wife was the right thing to do and I'm glad the league agreed."

Miller's Connecticut team has the best record in the East. The Sun opened the season 1-5 but are 12-8 for the league's third-best record behind Minnesota and Los Angeles.

"I wish Bill could do it," Miller said. "We're trying to honor Bill and his staff the best we can. We're going to try and have fun and come back with no injuries. No one gives the East certainly the due and credit that we play good basketball."

Cheryl Reeve will coach the West after guiding Minnesota to the division's top record last summer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.