There will be no Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu rematch at All-Star Weekend.
The NBA announced Thursday that the 3-point shooting event — one of the highlights of last year’s All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis that brought together two of the biggest stars in the NBA and WNBA — is not going to be part of the lineup in San Francisco.
Talks went on for weeks to try to make it happen, even stretching into All-Star week itself. It seemed more than logical that a rematch would occur: All-Star Weekend is on Curry’s home floor, and Ionescu, who plays for the WNBA champion New York Liberty, is a Bay Area native who grew up watching Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
“We weren’t able to land on a plan we thought would raise the bar off of last year’s special moment,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. “We all agreed not to proceed and will instead keep the focus on All-Star Sunday’s new format.”
Curry said he wanted the rematch to occur, and there were talks of making it a 2-on-2 format this year potentially involving Klay Thompson, Curry’s former Warriors teammate, and WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.
But Clark’s representatives said last month that she wanted her first 3-point contest to come at the WNBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis and would not participate in a special challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend.
As the 2-on-2 talks seemed to fall apart, the NBA had hope of bringing some form of Curry vs. Ionescu back — potentially even including it in Sunday night’s lineup between games of the new All-Star mini-tournament rather than having it be part of All-Star Saturday like it was a year ago.
“We’ve been talking about finding different ways to change this up next year,” Ionescu said after last year’s event. “I think he has a partner in mind that’s going to join him. So I’m open to any partner that could help me win and take that belt that he has up front and center away from him.”
Curry beat Ionescu 29-26 last season in the first such event of its kind at the league’s weekend showcase. The competition generated money for their foundations.
Curry, 36, is a four-time NBA champion and the league’s all-time leader in both 3-point attempts and makes, shooting a career 42.4%. Ionescu, 27, is a 36.4% 3-point shooter through her first five WNBA seasons.
The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.
