Two of the very best basketball gamers on this planet are about to go head-to-head.
Sabrina Ionescu and Stephen Curry will compete in a three-point taking pictures contest at NBA All-Star Weekend on Saturday, February 17, in Indianapolis. The occasion marks the primary time an NBA and WNBA participant have publicly competed towards one another in a contest like this.
The concept for the competition happened final summer time, shortly after Ionescu broke Curry’s document for factors in a three-point competitors, lighting up WNBA All-Star Weekend with 37 out of 40 doable factors. That included 20 makes in a row as she shattered Curry’s earlier mark of 31 factors.
“Shoot out??😂 @StephenCurry30,” she later quipped through X, sending a public problem to the Golden State Warriors guard.
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That sparked the dialog, and whereas the 2 have competed privately in HORSE (Ionescu received) and in pickup video games, the All-Star shootout would be the first time that followers get to look at the 2 icons compete.
Ionescu was initially set to shoot from the WNBA three-point line, which is greater than 18 inches nearer to the basket than the NBA line, whereas Curry was going to shoot from the NBA line. Ionescu later mentioned she’d shoot from NBA vary as nicely.
“Personally, I shoot from that vary to start with,” Ionescu mentioned on a media video name with Curry.
Whereas Ionescu and Curry are shut and the competitors might be pleasant, the New York Liberty guard is aware of that the competition’s impression extends past All-Star Weekend.
“There’s going to be a younger child who hasn’t possibly watched many WNBA video games however goes to look at this, they usually’re going to have that dream of at some point possibly taking pictures towards their idol,” Ionescu mentioned. “We’re a small piece of adjusting the narrative. This isn’t actually scripted. This isn’t one thing we’re doing to attempt to examine one thing off the field. We’re actually excited for the chance. It’s actually natural.”
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Curry, a longtime supporter of the WNBA, agreed.
“We’re having this second and reshaping how folks take into consideration simply competitors generally,” Curry mentioned. “You’ve acquired children which can be in gyms, girls and boys taking part in. No matter else comes out of it, we’re going to proceed to faucet in and put money into moments like these that may transfer the needle.”
Along with bragging rights, Ionescu and Curry are competing for charity. The NBA and WNBA will donate to Ionescu’s SI20 Basis and Curry’s Eat.Study.Play primarily based on the variety of threes every makes.
Because the competitors approaches, right here’s what you could learn about Sabrina Ionescu:
1. She’s 1 of the Best Faculty Basketball Gamers Ever
Out of every part the pandemic took away in sports activities, the chance for Ionescu to play in a Closing 4 with the Oregon Geese is among the many most merciless. The then-senior swept the nationwide participant of the yr awards and shattered faculty, convention and NCAA information alongside the way in which. Maybe most notably, Ionescu is the all-time school basketball chief in triple-doubles amongst each women and men. At the same time as Caitlin Clark barrels by way of the competitors at Iowa, she has solely achieved the feat 15 occasions, a distant second place to Ionescu’s 26. Ionescu can be the one participant in school basketball historical past with 2,000 factors, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds in her profession.
2. She’s the Cornerstone of the New York Liberty’s Revival
After COVID lower Ionescu’s school profession brief, the New York Liberty chosen her first total within the 2020 WNBA Draft. Accidents derailed her first season, however Ionescu returned with a vengeance in 2021, notching the primary triple-double in franchise historical past. Now, alongside all-stars Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot, Ionescu is likely one of the faces of the very best staff within the Japanese Convention. The Liberty fell to the Las Vegas Aces within the 2023 WNBA Finals in 4 video games.
3. She’s 1 of Nike’s Most Distinguished Lady Athletes
Nearly as quickly as she was out of school, Ionescu signed an endorsement cope with Nike. By 2023, that deal included a signature sneaker, making her simply the twelfth WNBA participant to have a namesake shoe, and the eighth to take action with the Swoosh. Since its launch, WNBA and NBA athletes alike have donned the Sabrina 1s on-court, together with Jordan Clarkson and Jrue Vacation. (Liberty superfan Jason Sudeikis additionally wore a pair to the 2024 Golden Globe Awards.)
4. Her Fiancé is Las Vegas Raiders Middle Hroniss Grasu
Discuss an athletic energy couple. Aside from being professional athletes, Ionescu and Grasu share a ton in widespread — each are of Romanian descent, grew up in California and attended the College of Oregon. The 2 have been collectively since 2021 and introduced their engagement in January 2023. Grasu has been within the NFL since 2015 and a member of the Raiders since 2021.
5. She Was Shut Mates With the Late Kobe Bryant
After Bryant’s taking part in days ended, he devoted much more consideration to his daughter Gianna’s basketball desires. In flip, his help for ladies’s basketball grew, and Ionescu was certainly one of a number of distinguished ladies’s gamers he befriended. Simply days after Kobe and Gianna died in a 2020 helicopter accident, Ionescu spoke at her pal’s memorial service in L.A. That very same night time, she returned to Oregon and tied her personal single-season NCAA triple-double document.
