Fever G Caitlin Clark will not participate in this year’s 3-point contest during WNBA All-Star for the third consecutive year after she “declined an opportunity” to compete, according to sources cited by Chloe Peterson of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Clark has been a “coveted ask” for the 3-point contest since she entered the league in 2024, but she has not yet participated in the All-Star Friday night festivities. She declined her rookie year in 2024 because she said that she “wanted to rest after a hectic first half of the season.” Then Clark declined a potential NBA-WNBA crossover 3-point contest at NBA All-Star in February 2025 because, according to ESPN, she “wanted her first 3-point contest to be in Indianapolis during WNBA All-Star later that year.” Clark was originally part of the announced participants for that 2025 WNBA event in Indianapolis, but she “suffered a season-ending groin injury the week before All-Star that forced her to pull out of the competition and the game itself” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/21).
KEY SEGMENT: CBSSPORTS.com’s Jack Maloney wrote “some of the best moments in WNBA All-Star history have come in the 3-point contest.” The event has a “way of living up to expectations, and may do so again this year,” but the biggest storyline heading into Friday night will be “who’s not participating.” Maloney: “Some of the reluctance is understandable. All-Star Weekend has become such an economic engine that it’s no longer a break.” Players, “especially those as popular as” Clark and Liberty G Sabrina Ionescu, are “shuttled from appearance to appearance to satisfy sponsors and fans.” And this year specifically, Clark and Ionescu have “both dealt with injuries.” Maloney: “Rest and recovery are important. So is putting on a show for the fans, growing the game and building a legacy” (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/21).
MASTER OF CEREMONIES: USA TODAY’s Cydney Henderson noted the WNBA has tapped Storm G Flau’jae Johnson to “serve as a player host” at WNBA All-Star Weekend. Johnson will “take over the WNBA’s social media channels ‘all weekend long.’” She will be “hosting everything from the orange carpet to the All-Star Game” (USA TODAY, 7/21).
