The WNBA, and women’s basketball in general, have only been growing in popularity recently. Both in the US and worldwide, the women’s game is in the best place it’s ever been, with superstars in both the college and pro ranks, great teams, and fan interest at an all-time high. The WNBA has always been chasing the NBA and its popularity, and it’s clear that the league is doing a great job of carving its own path.
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NBA players have gone out of their way to praise their WNBA counterparts, from showing up courtside to games to investing in Unrivaled, the women’s 3-on-3 league that wrapped its successful inaugural season in March. One of the coolest ways the two leagues have crossed over, though, is when Sabrina Ionescu met Steph Curry in a special 3-Point Challenge during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in 2024.
With the WNBA season set to tip off tonight, Ionescu talked about the pressure of that situation and how it compares to playing in the WNBA Finals on Sue Bird’s Bird’s Eye View podcast yesterday.
Ionescu said that nothing compares to the team pressure that comes with playing in the Finals, but she put the 3-Point Challenge just behind it. “The shootout is probably #2 or #3 in my list of ever feeling this type of stress and pressure of women’s basketball on my shoulders right there. Because if I went out and missed every shot, I would not have seen the light of day. Bad news, bad news.”
Despite having the weight of the women’s game on her, Ionescu put up a tremendous performance, making her first seven shots and scoring 26 points, which was more than any NBA player had put up in any round earlier in the night. Curry, who is almost unanimously agreed to be the best shooter of all-time, reached deep into his bag to pull out a three-point win.
There’s no shame in losing to Steph Curry, especially in such a close contest, and Ionescu succeeded in showing a worldwide NBA audience just what female players are capable of.
Sabrina vs. Steph was a real highlight in recent All Star Weekend history
Every part of All-Star Weekend has been disappointing recently. The game itself has been blasted for players giving zero effort, a fact which resulted in Adam Silver changing the format, to mixed results, this past year. The dunk contest has consistently failed to attract stars, while even the skills competition was marred by Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama trying to cheat.
Sabrina and Steph’s duel will be remembered years from now, and there’s still hope that it can happen again. She alluded to it on the podcast, telling Bird, “Steph and I have talked about it because we kind of set the foundation and groundwork of what this could look like … I think it’s a work in progress, but I will say it’s something that we definitely want to do again at some point.”
It was reported last year that there were talks about Ionescu teaming up with Caitlin Clark to take on Steph and his former Splash Brother running mate Klay Thompson, but those talks apparently fell through. Hopefully we can get that or something like it at the 2026 All-Star Weekend, because it would likely be the best part of the festivities once again.
Ionescu and her New York Liberty will begin their WNBA title defense with a game against the 2023 champion Las Vegas Aces on Saturday. Fans can check that game out on ABC at 1 p.m. ET.
