Sabrina Ionescu faces Stephen Curry in marquee 3-point contest during NBA All-Star weekend
Immediately after New York Liberty star and Oregon Ducks women’s basketball legend Sabrina Ionescu set a new 3-point contest record — scoring 37 points to win the WNBA’s contest last July — she sent a challenge to the best shooter in NBA history on social media.
A little over six months later, and Ionescu and one of her biggest idols, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, are competing in a 3-point shootout in Indianapolis as part of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend on Saturday.
Ionescu grew up in the Bay Area idolizing Curry, and when she starred at Oregon, Curry made it a point to support her. The 10-time all-star brought his two daughters to one of the Ducks’ games at Cal when Ionescu was a senior.
On Saturday, Ionescu will get her shootout with one of the greatest 3-point shooters to ever live.
What to know about Sabrina Ionescu, Stephen Curry
Curry is a two-time winner of the NBA’s 3-point contest, taking the challenge in 2015 and 2021, while Ionescu has won the WNBA’s 3-point contest just once last July. Ionescu scored 37 of the possible 40 points and at one point hit 20 shots in a row. That performance broke Curry’s record of 31 points.
Along with his 3-point contest victories, Curry is the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made, a four-time NBA champion, a two-time NBA scoring champion and a two-time winner of the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.
Ionescu has 10 less years of professional experience but graduated from Oregon as one of the NCAA’s most accomplished basketball players and already owns a major record in the WNBA. The four-year pro is a two-time all-star after getting drafted No. 1 overall by the Liberty in 2020. Last season, en route to a WNBA Finals appearance, Ionescu made 128 3-pointers, the most in a single season all-time.
At Oregon, Ionescu graduated as the Ducks’ all-time leader in points, assists, 3-point field goals and double-figure scoring games. She became the first player in NCAA history with 2,000 career points, 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career assists, and is the NCAA’s all-time leader in triple doubles with 26.
What Sabrina Ionescu, Stephen Curry are saying ahead of 3-point challenge
Ionescu and Curry met up with media on a video call Tuesday to discuss the significance of the 3-point challenge.
“There’s going to be a young kid who hasn’t maybe watched many WNBA games but is going to watch this, and they’re going to have that dream of one day maybe shooting against their idol,” Ionescu said. “We’re a small piece of changing the narrative. This isn’t really scripted. This isn’t something we’re doing to try to check something off the box. We’re really excited for the opportunity. It’s really organic.”
Ionescu will shoot from the NBA’s 3-point line instead of the WNBA line, about a foot and a half further out. She said there wasn’t any thought of using the WNBA line during the contest.
“I shoot from that range to begin with,” Ionescu said. “I practice from that range in wanting to just be a better shooter, a better basketball player and get better as a whole. 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. Very thankful that I was given that opportunity, and I’m going to capitalize on it.”
The shootout will take place Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis immediately after the NBA’s 3-point contest, which will take place after the skills challenge. Saturday’s All-Star festivities will begin at 5 p.m.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: How to watch Sabrina Ionescu, Stephen Curry 3-point contest
