How ‘Steph Vs Sabrina’ may have lit a fire under the WNBA

On Saturday night (February 17) America tuned in to find out who the shooter of all shooters was, with Steph Curry taking on Sabrina Ionescu in a special three-point challenge.

Curry is a four-time NBA champion and the NBA leader in three-pointers made in history, but Ionescu has a three-point record Curry doesn't have, recording 37 out of a possible 40 points in the WNBA three-point contest last year, according to CBS.

The game was set up as a heavyweight clash, but people were skeptical of whether Ionescu could still score the same from the NBA three-point line. She proved them wrong, scoring 26 points.

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According to the NBA website, Ionescu's 26 points would have matched Damian Lillard, Karl Anthony-Towns, Trae Young, and Tyrese Haliburton's 4-way tie in the NBA 3-point contest.

Despite her 26 points, Curry proved why he was the greatest shooter on earth, scoring 29 points in the contest, enough to win 'Steph vs Sabrina' and the NBA three-point competition if he had entered it.

Despite Curry winning the event, the new competition between WNBA and NBA stars was the biggest success of the 2024 All-Star weekend, according to NBAPR.

NBA All-Star Saturday had a 54% increase in viewership compared to last year, with the program spiking to 5.4 million viewers when 'Steph vs Sabrina' was on. For perspective, the LA Lakers vs Boston Celtics game drew between 2/2.5 million viewers.

The viewership and hype around the event have helped put the WNBA in a major national spotlight for the first time since its inception in 1996, but this three-point competition could be the start of changing the WNBA perception on a national scale.

The women's game has many bright stars coming through the NCAA college system, with LSU's Angel Reese and Iowa's Caitlin Clark making headways in the national public eye.

Iowa's Caitlin Clark has been making national headlines in the last week due to scoring 49 points and becoming the NCAA scoring record holder for women (3,569), surpassing Washington's Kelsey Plum, as reported by The Athletic.

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Clark will instantly become the biggest draw in the WNBA when she gets drafted, and the NBA has to help piece together a Clark and Ionescu versus Curry and another NBA player at next year's All-Star weekend.

According to Sporting News, Ionescu said: "We've been talking about finding different ways to change this up next year. I think Curry has a partner in mind that's going to join him. And so, I'm open to any partner that can help me win."

The WNBA couldn't create a better showcase to help grow their league. Imagine Steph Curry and Klay Thompson versus the two potential biggest stars in the WNBA, Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark. Viewership and ratings should increase dramatically.

The crossover between the NBA and WNBA has and will only help eliminate the stereotypes girls face today. Nike's marketing team has gone viral after utilizing Ionescu's "If you can shoot, you can shoot" comments after the match, according to Fox Sports.

Whether it continues in a tag-team format or one-versus-one, the addition of a WNBA and NBA crossover couldn't have gone much better, even despite the poor ratings the rest of the All-Star weekend had gotten.

With the bright stars coming through in college and the already established players in the WNBA, women's basketball has never looked so bright for the future.

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