Caitlin Clark Declines NBA 3-Point Contest Offer in Deference to WNBA All-Star Game

Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark said no to an NBA All-Star Weekend offer, perhaps so she could support the WNBA down the line.
Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) during the game against Indiana Fever during game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) during the game against Indiana Fever during game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images / Mark Smith-Imagn Images

There have been rumblings about Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark potentially participating in the NBA Three-Point Challenge competition during the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend, which is taking place at the Golden State Warriors' Chase Center from February 14-16.

However, a January 28 article from Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal asserted that her participation is far from guaranteed.

"Caitlin Clark has told the NBA she is disinclined to participate in an All-Star Game three-point contest next month that could include Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Sabrina Ionescu, sources told SBJ, although indications are the league is still in discussions with Clark’s representatives," Friend wrote.

He then said Clark is reluctant to shoot three-pointers off of a ball rack, and that's a reason why she's "disinclined".

Friend finished the article by saying negotiations are still underway, and that there's a chance she could participate.

But this sentiment has now switched one day later.

"Caitlin Clark has formally declined an invitation to be part of a male vs. female 3-point contest at next month's NBA All-Star Game, preferring to make her 3-point shooting debut at the WNBA All-Star Game at her home arena in July," Friend wrote in a January 29 article.

"Caitlin will not be at NBA All-Star," her representatives at Excel Sports Management said in a statement Wednesday, per the article. "She wants her first three-point contest to be at WNBA All-Star in Indianapolis this summer."

The article later added, "The league believed Clark's involvement would have had mass appeal but her preference became to wait for the WNBA event at Gainbridge Arena."

So there you have it. It sounds like Clark is trying to do her own league a service by declining the NBA's invite.


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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.