The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Golden State Warriors standouts Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson could face off against New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu and University of Iowa star Caitlin Clark in a 3-point contest next year.
"At this point Stephen Curry versus Sabrina Ionescu is very likely for next year…I'm told with Caitlin Clark and potentially Klay Thompson to make it 2v2."@ShamsCharania updates on next years #NBA All Star
📺: https://t.co/wdT8I0ST8g pic.twitter.com/TNprQELkIV— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) April 2, 2024
“At this point, Stephen Curry versus Sabrina Ionescu is very likely for next year,” Charania said. “And next year’s All-Star Weekend, guys, it’s gonna be in the Bay Area in San Francisco at Chase Center in 2025. And I’m told with Caitlin Clark and potentially Klay Thompson to make it 2v2. Stephen Curry — Klay Thompson is a Splash Brother. I’m told Steph Curry has specifically brought up potentially having Klay Thompson in this competition for next year.”
In the first ever iteration of the NBA vs. WNBA 3-Point Challenge, both Curry and Ionescu shot the ball with great accuracy from deep. Ionescu was the first of the two to participate, and she racked up 26 points.
SABRINA IONESCU.
26 POINTS.
COOKING.Stephen Curry is up next on TNT! https://t.co/fvM9iOA0ZD pic.twitter.com/nlDCX25eIx
— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024
But Curry followed up Ionescu’s 3-point shooting display by dropping 29 points, which gave the former the win by a narrow margin.
STEPHEN CURRY HEATS UP LATE TO WIN STEPHEN vs. SABRINA!
Curry: 29 PTS
Ionescu: 26 PTSWhat. A. Battle. https://t.co/hRX4qElqQJ pic.twitter.com/Uu9hmBhUhO
— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024
Curry — the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made — has put together yet another elite 3-point shooting season in the 2023-24 regular season. He is shooting 40.3 percent from deep on 12.0 attempts per contest across 68 games with the Warriors to this point.
He has knocked down three-plus 3-pointers in each of the Warriors’ last nine games and buried seven in Golden State’s win over the San Antonio Spurs on March 31.
As for Curry’s teammate in Thompson, while he’s not the player he once was, he remains one of the very best 3-point threats in the NBA today. Thompson is averaging 3.4 made 3s per game on 38.2 percent accuracy this season.
But even with Curry’s and Thompson’s 3-point marksmanship, the Warriors have had a forgettable season in terms of collective success. The Warriors own the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference standings and are in danger of dropping to the No. 11 spot, as the Houston Rockets — who just recently had their 11-game winning streak snapped — are two games back of Golden State.
To the Warriors’ credit, though, fans of the team haven’t had much to complain about of late. Golden State’s four-game winning streak is the second-longest winning streak of any team in the Western Conference at this juncture, behind only the Dallas Mavericks, who the Warriors will play in their next regular-season game on Tuesday night.
A matchup of Curry and Thompson against Ionescu and Clark in a 3-point competition projects to make for must-see television, as those names are four of the top 3-point shooters in the sport.
