By Joe Vardon, Sabreena Merchant and James Boyd
INDIANAPOLIS — Stephen Curry, the greatest 3-point shooter in history, edged WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu in a first-of-its-kind shootout on All-Star Saturday Night.
Curry, the Golden State Warriors superstar whose 3,642 regular season 3-pointers are the most ever, and who has two NBA 3-point contest championships to his name, set a score of 29 to Ionescu’s 26 in the single-round shooting contest that easily upstaged the league’s regular 3-point contest.
This contest, between two friends who can both call the San Francisco area home, didn’t exactly carry the same weight as the 1973 Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King. If anything, Ionescu being able to draw Curry out onto the court, and compete with him like she did, is an example of the enormous respect the women’s game has gained among fans and their male counterparts in the NBA.
“Just knowing that Steph wanted to do this as well, in terms of just respecting another shooter, I think it’s gonna show a lot of young kids out there, a lot of people who may not have believed or even watched women’s sports that we’re able to go out there and put on a show,” Ionescu said. “It was really exciting to finally be able to do this.”
Ionescu, shooting a WNBA-size ball from the NBA 3-point line, hit her first seven shots, causing a stir among the Indianapolis crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Curry won a 3-point championship belt that looks like a boxing or pro wrestling title belt, with goats on each side of the buckle. His 29 was better than any round posted during the evening’s regular NBA 3-point contest, won by Damian Lillard (who had two rounds of 26).
Last summer, Ionescu hit 25 of her last 26 shots in the WNBA 3-point contest for 37 points, the highest score of any 3-point contest in either the men’s or women’s game.
“I saw the first rack,” Curry said. “I was having flashbacks of watching the summer. She set a really great number. … So, it added a lot of pressure, for sure. I just wanted to get off to a good start and settle in. Thankfully, I made enough to get over the top, but that was perfect. It made great entertainment, great shooting on both sides.”
STEPHEN vs. SABRINA WAS A MOVIE.
Sabrina Ionescu opened on fire and dropped 26… before Stephen Curry came through in the clutch to win it with 29!
Enjoy. 🍿 pic.twitter.com/Sz104f95FZ
— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024
The NBA and WNBA donated $25,000 to the charities of the two players’ choice, and State Farm contributed thousands of dollars to the NBA Foundation for each shot Curry and Ionescu nailed.
The Curry-Ionescu contest took place on a brand new, forgiving, LED glass court developed by German company ASB GlassFloor, installed at the football stadium for All-Star Weekend. The floor changed colors, graphics, and messages throughout the night.
“So much credit to them,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “I wish it was the league that came up with this idea.”
Ionescu, who is from the Bay Area in California, where Curry has starred, challenged Curry to the duel, and he accepted.
“For her to have a presence on this stage is gonna do a lot to inspire the next generation of young boys and girls that want to compete and see themselves in either one of us,” Curry said. “Wherever it goes from there, we know we’re kind of planting our flag and doing something really special.”
Before the contest, Ionescu said, “I know if I win, he’s going to want a rematch. If he wins, I am going to want a rematch.”
Next year’s All-Star Weekend is in San Francisco, in Curry’s building. Anyone think Ionescu will make another appearance?
Should Stephen versus Sabrina become a recurring event?
Kenny Smith suggested that Curry and Ionescu return next year for an encore shootout, this time featuring Lillard and Caitlin Clark, who presumably will be a WNBA player by then. Although the first shootout certainly lived up to the hype, it might be a disservice to Ionescu to continue to have to carry the torch for the WNBA on All-Star Saturday. Rotating the NBA and WNBA participants in a recurring battle of the sexes is an idea — perhaps just Lillard versus Clark in 2025 — but eventually, you’d run out of generational talents, which is part of the draw.
My suggestion? Bring back the Shooting Stars Challenge. One NBA player, one retired player, and one WNBA player shoot the same six shots against the clock. It’s a seamless, lower-stakes way of integrating the WNBA talent. And if we learned anything from the skills challenge tiebreak (which may have jumped the shark, let’s be honest), the women are far better at shooting halfcourt shots — a skill they work on at every practice and shootaround — than their male counterparts. — Sabreena Merchant, women’s basketball staff writer
Could Caitlin Clark be the next challenger (or partner)?
Saturday’s showdown between Curry and Ionescu came two days after Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark became the NCAA women’s all-time leading scorer. The 22-year-old has drawn record-setting crowds during her senior season while routinely nailing deep 3s to stand alone in history. Clark’s seemingly limitless range has made her one of the most captivating players in all of basketball and the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, if she forgoes her extra year of eligibility.
With Clark on the cusp of joining the pro ranks, Ionescu was asked if Clark would be included in the next iteration of their 3-point contest.
“Well, 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 gonna join him, and so I’m open to any partner that can help me win and take that belt that he has, upfront and center, away from him.” — James Boyd, Indianapolis Colts staff writer
Shooting on an LED court in a football stadium
The Curry-Ionescu duel wasn’t the only first-of-its-kind part of All-Star Weekend. For the first time in league history, the players competed on an LED court, with graphics and animations flashing across the floor. The court was also built in a football stadium, stretching across where the 50-yard usually is.
Instead of hosting the event at the Indiana Pacers’ stadium, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which seats 18,000 fans, the NBA opted for Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, which seated over double that. As Curry and Ionescu went toe-to-toe, the court lit up and the packed crowd did, too.
“Obviously, it was a long build-up for two 70-second rounds, but I’ve been to 10 All-Star Weekends and a little more when I was shooting in the 3-point contest, and to have it with the new floor and 40,000 fans out here and people using the bathrooms, it was all types of chaos around here,” said Curry, who laughed after hearing someone flush a nearby toilet midway through his news conference. “For us to deliver a show like that, it was perfect. (It was) as much excitement that you can build in that short amount of time of two great shooters going at it.
Pretty special, this will be something we remember for a long time.” — Boyd
Required reading
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
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