After not making it to the list of six players who are set to participate in the WNBA’s All-Star three-point contest this weekend, Sabrina Ionescu has now set the record straight regarding her omission, as there were reports earlier that she allegedly declined an invite to the event.
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“I saw that yesterday. I guess you can’t really, at least personally, I can’t decline an offer I never got officially invited to, so I was pretty surprised to see that,” Sabrina Ionescu said while speaking to reporters before Liberty’s game against the Chicago Sky on Wednesday.
Never got invited, and obviously that’s, you know, whether it’s against Steph Curry or, you know, in the W, I always go out and try and beat my record every single time I’ve gone out.”
“So, yeah, I mean, I just kind of wanted to set the record straight. That was just false, but I’m really excited for the participants in it, and obviously there’s going to be a new winner, so I’m excited to see who wins.”
Earlier, Sabrina Ionescu replied, “Lies,” to a post by Bleacher Report that has since been deleted. This created more confusion than clarity among the fans, as there was no official statement from either the league or Ionescu.
Now that the guard’s take is clear, the snub seems like an obvious miss.
She is the defending three-point contest champion, having won it twice in the last three years. She broke WNBA and NBA records for most points in a three-point shooting contest in 2023 by scoring 37 out of a possible 40 points, surpassing Stephen Curry’s 2021 single-round score of 34.
Fans and experts are attributing this snub to her dip in form this season after coming back from prolonged injury-related absences. She is averaging just 13.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting a career-low 28.7% from beyond the arc.
The WNBA veteran also scored 37.9% from the field across the only 14 games she has played. However, Sabrina Ionescu has left the door open to future invitations to this signature event.
“Maybe I’ll do it with Steph again at NBA All-Star and get a really nice official invite,” she said.
For now, the fans can tune into the All-Star three-point contest on Disney+, ESPN, and the ESPN app. The event will be held at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois, on Friday, July 24 at 8 PM ET.