Put two great basketball minds together (Sabrina Ionescu and Steph Curry) and get one great NBA All-Star idea.
Ionescu, the New York Liberty’s star guard, won the 2023 WNBA 3-point contest in July, Curry, the Golden State Warriors’ star guard, took note of Ionescu’s record-setting 37-point final round, making 25 of 27 3-pointers, including 20 consecutive.
Curry posted on social media, “Ridiculous,” and Ionescu responded, “Shoot out?”
By night’s end, Ionescu and Curry, who share a Bay Area connection, were on the phone, discussing the idea, which became a tentative plan which became fruition.
Ionescu and Curry, a two-time NBA 3-point contest winner, the game’s all-time leader made 3s and the greatest shooter, will meet in a 3-point contest at NBA All-Star Weekend Saturday in Indianapolis.
“It's not like I'm joining the NBA's 3-point contest,” Ionescu said. “But we're really having our own and the significance and importance of that and kind of just having that idea stem from a joke and now being able to see it come to life and knowing that it's going to be a great experience for us both and exciting to see obviously who the winner is, but what it's going to mean for basketball as a whole.”
Said Curry: Watching what she did at all-Star weekend, watching what the WNBA season was like, how it's continuing to grow and then understanding there's a nice connection here that’s an authentic competition between two great shooters who've had success in a 3-point contest and now you're trying to level the playing field. ‘Let's see who the best shooter is on that given night.'
“I think a lot of people were either on one side or the other of their reactions. ‘This is the dopest thing in the world, it's his first of its kind, and it'll be something that changes the narrative on what it looks like.’ But then also there is the camp that was like, ‘Oh, you got a lot on the line. You really want to take on that challenge? What if you lose?’ And there's a lot of fear attached to it really, in a certain sense. So I wanted to negate both of those. However it plays out is what sports is about. It's just competing, whatever the format is.”
The event is Saturday and will take place after the NBA 3-point contest and before the NBA slam dunk contest?
TNT will televise NBA All-Star Saturday Night with coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
The format is the same as a traditional NBA and WNBA 3-point contest:
∎ 70 seconds to shoot as many of the 27 basketballs as he/she can.
∎ Four ball racks with four game balls and one “money” ball.
∎ Fifth rack will be a special “all money ball” rack. He/she can decide the spot for this rack.
∎ Two deep range shots.
∎ Game balls worth 1 point, money balls worth 2 points and deep range balls worth 3 points.
Curry will shoot from the NBA 3-point line and Ionescu has the option of shooting from the WNBA 3-point line.
Ionescu told reporters Tuesday that she plans to shoot from the NBA 3-point line.
“I shoot from that range to begin with,” she said. “I practice from that range and wanting to just be a better shooter, a better basketball player and get better as a whole. And so knowing that I had the opportunity to pick what line I wanted to shoot from, it was a no-brainer from when it was first presented that I wanted to shoot from the NBA line and continue to just prove that we're capable and we're willing.
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“It's not something that it took a lot of convincing and knowing that I wanted to continue to just equal the playing field and do so when it matters and on the biggest stage.”
She can change her mind and shoot from the WNBA 3-point line though it seems unlikely.
The WNBA 3-point line is 21 feet, two inches from the basket in the corner and 22 feet, 1.8 inches from the basket above the corner break.
The NBA 3-point line is 22 feet from the basket in the corners and 23 feet, nine inches feet from the basketball above the corner break.
An NBA basketball measures 29½ inches in circumference and has a weight of 22 ounces.
A WNBA basketball measures 28½ inches in circumference and has a weight of 20 ounces.
According to the NBA, Curry’s Eat.Learn.Play nonprofit and Ionescu’s SI20 Foundation will receive a donation from the NBA and WNBA. Also, each shot made by Curry and Ionescu will result in a donation from State Farm to the NBA Foundation to support economic empowerment in the Black community. Each regular 3-pointer made is worth $1,000, the money ball $2,000 and the deep range ball $3,000.
“It's just continuing to raise the bar and to give us the opportunities to be on this platform, understanding it being on TV and young girls and young boys being able to watch it and understanding how important visibility is and knowing that there's going to be a young kid who maybe hasn't watched many WNBA games but is going to watch and tune into this and they're going to have that dream of one day going up and shooting against their idol and knowing what that's going to mean and how that's going to change the landscape of sports.
“And so I don't think either of us really understand, and obviously I'm speaking for Steph, but the gravity and magnitude that this could take on but knowing that we're just a small piece of just changing the narrative and this isn't really scripted. This isn't something that we're doing to try and check something off the box. It's more like we're really excited for the opportunity to do this.”
“We’re having this moment and reshaping how people think about just competition in general. You’ve got kids that are in gyms and boys and girls playing, shooting, playing, pickup, whatever the case is, reimagining what competition really looks like at the same time. And this can kind of be a moment for that. So whatever else comes out of it, we're going to continue to tap in and invest on moments like these that can move the needle. And that's all the effort really that you can kind of control. And I'm excited to be a part of it.”
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