The New York Liberty made Indiana their playground this All-Star break. After dismantling the Indiana Fever in their final game before the break, they returned to dominate the weekend’s spotlight. It was the Liberty’s sweep at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. And in case anyone missed it, the billion-dollar brand ensured to fill them in. 

Natasha Cloud kicked things off with flair, capturing the Skills Challenge title in style, blazing through the first round in just 34.1 seconds. She sealed the win with a 36.4-second finish to edge out Erica Wheeler by 1.1 seconds. Her win seemed to have set the stage for Sabrina Ionescu.

The Liberty’s star guard followed up with her signature sharpshooting, clinching a record-tying second 3-Point Contest crown, a repeat of her 2023 triumph. And Nike did not spend much time hyping their athlete, putting up a clever message to celebrate Ionescu’s win.

The brand wrote on social media, “Forecast in Indy says rain with a 100% chance of @sabrina_i20.” And it had. Ionescu lit up the 3-point contest with a storm of buckets, dropping 30 points and proving once again, when she’s locked in, there’s no shelter from the downpour.

It wasn’t quite the jaw-dropping spectacle of 2023, when Sabrina Ionescu lit up the scoreboard with a record-shattering 37 points, drilling 25 of 27 shots, the most ever in any WNBA or NBA 3-Point Contest. But make no mistake: she still owned the night.

At the 2025 showdown, Ionescu dropped a scorching 30 points, blowing past the competition with ease. Last year’s champ, Allisha Gray, managed just 22, good enough for second, but not even close. Ionescu went nuclear mid-round, sinking 11 straight shots, including every single ball from her moneyball rack, sending the crowd into a frenzy. ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco summed it up perfectly as she caught fire: “We’ve seen this before!” It was déjà vu, dominance, and deadeye shooting rolled into one. Business as usual for the queen of the arc.

This is Ionescu’s second time participating in a three-point contest in Indianapolis, as she went head-to-head against Steph Curry at the NBA All-Star Weekend last year. It was a cut-to-cut game, but Curry, standing firm on his ‘Chef Curry’ tag, cooked to win the contest 29-26. However, Ionescu still gave him a tough point despite shooting from the NBA three-point line, which is farther than the WNBA. 

“The last time I was here in NBA I lost to Steph (Curry), so I had to come back and redeem myself,” Ionescu said after her win.

Sabrina walked away with $60,000 for her winning performance, but she’s not pocketing a dime. In a move that underscores her generosity and leadership, Ionescu announced she’s splitting the prize in two. Half will go to rookie Sonia Citron, who made her 3-point contest debut this year.

“I think I have a limit on Venmo, so I’ve got to figure out how to do that,” Ionescu joked. “Maybe just pick up the check and cut it in half.”

The remaining half will be donated to her SI20 Foundation, which focuses on giving youth from all backgrounds equal access to sports, empowering the next generation and building stronger, more connected communities. Ionescu is proving to be an ideal role model to the next generation and Nike has released another poster dedicated to her. 

Nike Releases Sabrina Ionescu Poster That Turns Heads

Sabrina Ionescu was mastering the deep ball long before it became a national obsession. After being selected as the number one overall pick in 2020, Ionescu signed a multi-year endorsement deal with Nike, setting the stage for a groundbreaking partnership.

In 2023, she became the first women’s basketball player to launch a unisex signature collection with Nike, joining elite company alongside Serena Williams and Megan Rapinoe. Ionescu didn’t just make history, she changed the game. And Nike understood the magnitude.

The brand released a poster featuring Ionescu shooting along with a quotable text, “If you have nothing to prove, prove it.” The caption then read, “Sabrina Ionescu is here to remind you who she is: the undisputed WNBA 3-Point Contest champ.”

The caption was a clear message to WNBA fans. Sabrina is still the best three-point shooter in the league. In the last couple of years, that tag has slowly shifted towards Caitlin Clark, and for a good reason. Clark can shoot from anywhere on the court, but Ionescu is still the more efficient shooter. She holds the WNBA three-point single-season record with 128 three-pointers scored in 2023. 

She also became the all-time deep ball leader in Liberty history, surpassing Crystal Robinson in the first quarter of action against the Washington Mystics are CareFirst Arena in June this year, and the fastest to 400 three pointers, beating out Diana Taurasi’s record by 7 games. Ionescu is fifth in the league this year in 3 pointers made with 50, and it has been a rare off year for her. But even with rising stars like Caitlin Clark, Ionescu remains the standard.