Sabrina Ionescu was narrowly defeated by Stephen Curry in the NBA-WNBA three-point shooting contest last year. Nevertheless, Ionescu challenged Curry and made things interesting. Ionescu may participate in the event once again, and this time she may have a teammate.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Curry and Ionescu could be joined by Klay Thompson and Caitlin Clark.
Reporting for NBA Countdown on the tournament-style 2025 All-Star Game – plus Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu working to add two friends to the NBA-WNBA 3-point challenge: pic.twitter.com/DjjpAb1GO2
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 16, 2024
Thompson, of course, is Curry's former Golden State Warriors teammate. The Splash Brothers won four championships together with the Warriors. Thompson ended up joining the Dallas Mavericks this past offseason, but he could team up with Curry once again during NBA All-Star Weekend which happens to be in San Francisco this year.
Clark, meanwhile, emerged as one of the most notable stars in the WNBA this past season. Ionescu and Clark are among the best three-point shooters in the league, and they could challenge Curry and Thompson in a three-point contest.
Ionescu's New York Liberty won the 2024 WNBA Finals. The Liberty star would love to add an NBA three-point contest victory as well. The Curry-Ionescu contest was extremely popular a season ago, so a rematch could still draw plenty of attention. Adding Clark and Thompson, however, would be an especially intriguing element to the event.
Will Caitlin Clark, Klay Thompson participate in three-point contest?
It remains to be seen if Clark and Thompson are even open to the idea of participating in the contest. Clark is currently enjoying her offseason following a long last year which saw her quickly join the WNBA following her final college basketball season. Thompson may want to place his focus firmly on helping his new team win games.
With that being said, perhaps the Indiana Fever star and the former Warriors NBA champion will agree to participate in the contest. After all, both players are competitive and would likely welcome the challenge.
For now, it is not certain as to who will officially participate in the NBA-WNBA three-point contest, but it does appear that the league wants to bring it back. As mentioned, it was the highlight of last year's NBA All-Star Weekend.
The NBA is also working on potential changes to the All-Star game itself. The game has often been criticized in recent years for being an offensive showcase with minimal defensive effort. However, the league would like to increase the competition.
Perhaps the NBA All-Star Game will improve this year. At the very least, fans can expect to see the NBA-WNBA three-point contest return.