Almost a year in the making, the long-distance rivalry between NBA sharpshooter Steph Curry and WNBA counterpart Sabrina Ionescu will come to a head, when the pair face off from the three-point arc at next month's NBA All Star Weekend at Indianapolis.
Curry, 35, has steered Golden State Warriors to four NBA championships, establishing himself as the game's premier long-distance shooter, with more three-point baskets than any other player in the history of the league. He has a career 42.2 percent accuracy from the arc and has won the NBA All Star three-point contest twice, most recently in 2021.
Ionescu, 26, won the WNBA three-point contest with a record 37 points last July, missing just two of 27 shots. Afterwards, Curry tweeted: "RIDICULOUS!"
That started the wheels rolling towards an almost inevitable 'Battle of the Sexes' meeting between the two.
"Shoot out???" offered Ionescu.
Last week, while mic'ed up for a Warriors game, Curry was heard discussing the prospect with rookie teammate Brandin Podiemski during warm-up.
"I think I've got to bring her out," he said. "We've got to settle this once and for all."
Ionescu quickly accepted: "Let's gettttt it! See ya at the 3pt line."
The terms of the contest state Curry will shoot the bigger NBA ball from the men's three-point line and Ionescu will use the smaller WNBA balls from the closer arc, but she has already offered to meet him midcourt.
"I'll shoot from the NBA line," she tweeted.
Ionescu has 37.7 percent career three-point shooting, but holds the record - men or women - for triple-doubles in US college basketball, with 26 over four seasons at University of Oregon.
