Sabrina Ionescu, a guard for the WNBA’s New York Liberty, broke the 3-point contest NBA and WNBA record last year. In the final round of the STARRY WNBA 3-Point Contest during All-Star weekend Ionescu scored 37 points out of 40. Ionescu challenged Stephen Curry after the contest and recently Curry was mic’d up pregame and challenged Ionescu back. Ionescu responded on social media and the stage was set. The challenge will take place during NBA All-Star weekend. The two will also be competing for charities of their choice.
Curry is the NBA’s all-time 3-point leader and is dubbed ‘the greatest shooter of all time. But who is Ionescu?
Anyone following the women’s hoop scene has known the name for years. Ionescu had a legendary career at Oregon. Her accomplishments include being the first player (female or male) in NCAA history with 2,000 career points, 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career assists and the NCAA all-time leader (women’s and men’s) with twenty-six career triple-doubles. Among scores of other records and accolades, she won the Wade Trophy and Wooden Award twice, the Naismith Trophy, and was the unanimous Associated Press National Player of the Year in her senior year. Ionescu led her Ducks to be the favorites for that season’s NCAA Tournament only for it to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After being robbed as heavily favored champions, Ionescu was selected first in the 2020 WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty. She was sidelined early in her rookie campaign due to injury and missed the rest of that Wubble season but has been playing like a future Hall of Famer the last three years. In 2023, Ionescu averaged 17.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. She shot 42.3% from field goal range, 44.8% from 3-point range and 87.2% on free throws. Ionescu set the WNBA single-season record with 128 3-pointers in 2023. She was an all-star the last two seasons, earning second-team All-WNBA honors both times. In addition to winning the 3-point contest in 2023 she won the skills challenge in 2022.
Off the court, Ionescu is a Nike athlete. She released her first shoe, Nike Sabrina 1, in September 2023. These shoes have gained incredible popularity with both men and women. NBA stars like Jrue Holiday, Mikal Bridges and Jordan Poole have sported the kicks this season. Stanford men’s and women’s basketball have their own pair along with the Arizona men’s squad and Virginia’s women’s program. Historically women’s signature basketball sneakers have not been very popular among hoopers. This is another step towards merging the men’s and women’s basketball cultures together.
Ionescu also got engaged in January of 2023 to NFL player, Hroniss Grasu.
No matter who wins the 3-point challenge this is a huge step for getting more eyes on women’s basketball and the talent these women possess. Events like this lift women’s basketball and give these athletes a larger platform to reach new fans. This is reminiscent of when Billy Jean King faced Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match in 1973.
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- Source: https://thegamehaus.com/sports/previewing-steph-vs-sabrina-3-point-challenge/2024/02/09/
