A fan-favorite event from NBA All-Star Weekend last year will not be returning this weekend in San Francisco.
A 3-point contest between Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu will not take place this year, The Athletic's Anthony Slater and Joe Vardon first reported Thursday, before Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Michael Bass confirmed the report in a statement to ESPN's Shams Charania.
NBA-WNBA shootout with Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu is off. NBA's Mike Bass: "We weren't able to land on a plan we thought would raise the bar off of last year’s special moment. We all agreed not to proceed and will instead keep the focus on All-Star Sunday’s new format.”
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 13, 2025
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The Athletic also reported, citing sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations, that Curry and Ionescu were not interested in a simple rematch and wanted to expand the competition to include fellow WNBA star Caitlin Clark, and potentially Curry's former Warriors teammate, Klay Thompson, before Clark declined the opportunity.
However, the NBA still attempted to resurrect the Curry-Ionescu competition, in some form, as late as Wednesday, but were unable to convince both shooters to sign on, The Athletic reported, citing league sources.
Last year's shoot-out between Curry and Ionescu was a hit, with the Warriors sharpshooter narrowly beating his WNBA counterpart by a score of 29 to 26.
Stephen vs. Sabrina lived up to the hype!
— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024
Watch two of the best shooters in the world go at it, with Stephen Curry taking home the belt 🔥🎯 pic.twitter.com/8qp76GZp9b
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Despite the league's efforts to resurrect it this year in the Bay Area, which is home to both Curry and Ionescu, a Walnut Creek, California, native, it appears the two will have to wait until next year to potentially square off again.