Clark announced her decision in January, while the NBA recently canceled Ionescu’s three-point showdown with Steph Curry.
The NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco has lost its feminine touch as WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Sabrina Ionescu won’t compete in three-point contests this weekend.
Clark’s announcement came in January via Excel Sports Management, which represents the Indiana Fever superstar. More recently, the NBA nixed Ionescu’s three-pointer showdown with Golden State Warriors superstar guard Steph Curry.
“We weren’t able to land on a plan we thought would raise the bar off of last year’s special moment,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a
statement via an ESPN reporter. “We all agreed not to proceed and will instead keep the focus on All-Star Sunday’s new format.”
Curry and Ionescu, a New York Liberty star guard, competed head-to-head in a three-point contest last year during the NBA All-Star Weekend. It marked the first three-point contest between an NBA and WNBA player.
Curry won it
29–26 for the three-point belt, similar to that of a heavyweight boxing victor. It wasn’t the first male versus female professional sporting event ever, but Curry saw it as noteworthy.
“Great entertainment, great shooting—both sides—and an awesome 70 seconds for both of us,” Curry told the
media last year after the event.
Ionescu had an interest in coming back for 2025, which she discussed with the media after last year’s shootout. It turned into a potential two-on-two event, which could have included Clark and former Warriors guard Klay Thompson.
“We’ve been talking about finding different ways to change this up next year,” Ionescu said. “I think he has a partner in mind that’s going to join him. So I’m open to any partner that could help me win and take that belt that he has up front and center away from him.”
Ionescu has been a stellar three-point shooter throughout her five-year WNBA career
amid a .364 percentage. Clark excelled as a dynamic three-point shooter in college at Iowa, where she became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history, and she kept it up as a rookie in the WNBA last year with
a .344 mark beyond the three-point arc.
“Caitlin will not be at NBA All-Star,’’ Excel Sports Management announced in
a statement on Jan. 29 via the Sports Business Journal. “She wants her first three-point contest to be at WNBA All-Star in Indianapolis this summer.’’
Clark and the Fever play home games in Gainbridge Arena, which will host the WNBA All-Star festivities. Ionescu’s next three-point contest will have to wait for then, too. She previously won the WNBA three-point contest in 2023.
Curry, in an NBA three-point contest, will also have to wait for another year despite his prowess as a long-range shooter and his
career .424 percentage from three-point range in nearly 16 seasons. However, Curry will play in the All-Star Game on Sunday as a member of Team Shaq.
The NBA’s lineup for
the traditional three-point contest on Saturday includes New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, Brooklyn Nets forward Cameron Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard, and Los Angeles Clippers guard Norma Powell. Lillard comes in as the two-time defending three-point contest champion.
If Lillard can pull off the win, he will become the third-ever player to win the contest three straight years. Former Boston Celtics great Larry Bird did it from 1986-1988, and former Chicago Bulls guard Craig Hodges won it from 1990-1992.
Besides the three-point contest, NBA All-Star Weekend
has numerous events leading up to the three-game All-Star series on Sunday night. The weekend tips off with the Castrol Rising Stars game on Friday, which features first and second-year players plus G-League standouts. Saturday’s events include the Kia Skills Challenge and the AT&T Slam Dunk contest.
