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Sabrina Ionescu Picks Caitlin Clark as Ideal NBA All-Star Shooting Contest Partner

New York Liberty icon Sabrina Ionescu is picking Caitlin Clark as her Splash Sister in a potential NBA All-Star shooting contest vs. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson in 2025.

Grant Young

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) and Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) watch a free throw Saturday, July 6, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) and Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) watch a free throw Saturday, July 6, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. / Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

New York Liberty star guard (and 2024 WNBA Champion) Sabrina Ionescu set the basketball community ablaze earlier this year when she faced off against Golden State Warriors legend Steph Curry in the first-ever NBA vs. WNBA 3-Point Challenge at the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend.

Ionescu (who was shooting with WNBA basketballs from the NBA 3-point line) drained her first seven threes and tallied a final score of 26 in the iconic event.

Despite this extremely impressive performance, she was outshined by Curry, who ultimately scored 29 points to win the inaugural 'Stephen vs. Sabrina' competition.

But the real winner was the sport of basketball and its fans, who got to witness a one-of-a-kind event between two of the world's best sharpshooters.

Now the question becomes: How can the NBA up the ante in 2025?

And during her appearance on Big Ten Network's "Big Ten Tailgate" show on Saturday, Ionescu alluded to a way to increase the attention for a future event tenfold.

When one of the show's hosts Tyvis Powell said to Ionescu, "Sabrina, you did the three-point contest against Steph Curry last year. Now I hear that they want to go back and go two-on-two, Steph and Klay [Thompson]. Who would your partner be if you get to do that?"

"I mean, if I had to choose, I would take Caitlin Clark on my team," Ionescu responded.

While this potential NBA All-Star shooting event isn't confirmed, the thought of Ionescu and Clark pairing up against former Warriors teammates (and Splash Brothers) Curry and Thompson might break the internet.

Let's hope that Ionescu — who didn't bat an eye when Powell brought this potential contest up — sticks to pairing that if (and when) this contest comes to fruition.

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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.

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