Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu to face off in battle of 3-point contest champions
NBA All-Star Weekend will have something new, thanks to Sabrina Ionescu and Stephen Curry.
The Golden State Warriors and New York Liberty stars will face off in a 3-point shootout in Indianapolis next month, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. Curry has won the NBA's 3-point contest twice, in 2015 and 2021, while Ionescu set a record with 37 points in the final of her win in the WNBA event last year.
The rules of the contest remain unclear, namely which 3-point line the two players will each be using.
Curry hinted at the possibility earlier Thursday in a segment with Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski that totally wasn't staged at all, which happened to be captured by TNT's cameras.
"We gotta settle this once and for all."@StephenCurry30 challenging @sabrina_i20 to a 3-point shootout? 👀 pic.twitter.com/3QvGnRL4bK
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 26, 2024
Curry and Ionescu have been teasing this for a while. After burning down the nets at the WNBA shoot-out, Ionescu tweeted at Curry about a shootout. Curry responded days later, confirming he was interested in a contest.
Shoot out??😂 @StephenCurry30
— Sabrina Ionescu (@sabrina_i20) July 15, 2023
WNBA stars have participated in NBA All-Star Weekend in the past, mostly in the celebrity game and the shooting stars competition. None have participated in the 3-point contest, but Ionescu will now get a chance to promote women's basketball on one of the NBA's biggest stages.
NBA All-Star Weekend is scheduled from Feb. 16-18 in Indianapolis. The starters for the game were also announced earlier Thursday, with Curry coming short of a ninth career start. The Curry-Ionescu contest won't be the only tweak in the weekend's format, as the game is also going back to its old East-West format rather than selected teams.
