Determined To Beat Stephen Curry In His Domain, Sabrina Ionescu Explains Why She Wants To Shoot From The NBA’s 3 Point Line During Their Contest

Determined To Beat Stephen Curry In His Domain, Sabrina Ionescu Explains Why She Wants To Shoot From The NBA's 3 Point Line During Their Contest

Sabrina Ionescu became the talk of the town after she broke the three-point contest record by scoring 37 points and missing just one shot. Since then, a lot has happened, and now we have ourselves a once-in-a-lifetime matchup between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu during the 2024 All-Star weekend. Anticipated to be the most exciting event of the weekend, both the players have been in the media talking about the same. Recently, the WNBA player was asked on ‘SiriusXM NBA Radio‘ about which three-point line she would shoot from, and she confirmed it to be the NBA length.

The WNBA three-point line is shorter in length as compared to the NBA. The NBA has a 22-foot 3-point line in the corners and a 23-foot, 9-inch line in the rest of the arc. The WNBA and the international game play with a 20-foot, 6-inch line. So, Ionescu had a choice to make when going up against an NBA player. When the show hosts probed into the reason, she explained,

“That was kind of what I wanted to do from the beginning. Just understanding, where I normally shoot from is that range. That’s where I practice from. Being able to have the opportunity to go out there and prove a lot of people wrong. I have been hearing a lot of people think that I can’t do it, that women can’t shoot from that far. So, just kind of checking that off the box in terms of knowing what I am capable of doing and given the opportunity to go out there and put my best foot forward.”

Sabrina seems as confident as you would see any player in her situation, and she has every right to be. She is the champion and holds the record when it comes to shots made in a three-point contest. Stephen Curry, on the other hand, is the challenger in this situation. And he is aware that he has a worthy opponent in front of him. As the greatest 3-point shooter in the history of the NBA, Curry would like to maintain that tag after the weekend in Indiana.

NBA players choose between Sabrina Ionescu and Curry

Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

With all the hype around the Sabrina and Curry matchup, NBA players are getting into the action by predicting their winners. Steph Curry’s teammate from the Golden State Warriors – Klay Thompson, has chosen Sabrina Ionescu instead of his ‘Splash Brother’. Seeing the clip of Thompson choosing his opponent, here is how Curry reacted,

“This is exactly why we should do this. Especially for the shooters, he knows what it takes to put the ball in the basket. He has won a three-point contest. He knows how ridiculous Sabrina record was. So, he is going with the champ. I am the contender and I can’t wait to walk back to the locker room and prove them wrong.”

 

Curry’s former teammate – Kevin Durant, also chimed in with his pick for the contest. However, Durant does not seem to be confident and has been switching between the two contenders. After picking Curry initially, he pivoted to Sabrina, before going right back to his former teammate. Draymond Green, on the other hand, has picked Steph and is fairly confident his Warriors teammate is going to win. For the fans, irrespective of the winner, it will be a matchup for the ages.

Post Edited By: Tonoy Sengupta
NBA Sabrina Ionescu Steph Curry

About the author

Keshav Kumar

Keshav Kumar Keshu

An NBA journalist for The SportsRush, Keshav is a basketball fanatic and has been since the age of 10 when he first got introduced to the game. Since then, his love for the game has increased exponentially to the point its become an obsessive compulsion. He has been diligently following the NBA for more than a decade now and is a huge Golden State Warriors fan. Keshav has written over 250+ articles about the NBA.

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