The All-Star sinks: There will be no showdown between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu

There will be no rematch between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu at the All-Star Weekend.

The NBA announced on Thursday that the three-point contest, one of the highlights of last year's All-Star in Indianapolis, will not be part of the program in San Francisco.

For weeks, there was discussion about the possibility of repeating the event, even up to the same week of the All-Star. Everything seemed to align for the rematch to take place: the event would be held on Curry's court, and Ionescu, who plays for the WNBA champions, New York Liberty, is originally from the Bay Area and grew up watching Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

"We found it difficult to come up with a proposal that would surpass the special moment from last year," explained Mike Bass, NBA spokesperson. "We all agreed not to go ahead with it and focus on the new format for the All-Star Sunday."

Curry expressed his interest in having the rematch, and there was even discussion of a 2 vs. 2 format that would include his former Warriors teammate, Klay Thompson, and WNBA Rookie of the Year, Caitlin Clark.

However, Clark's team confirmed last month that she preferred her first three-point competition to be at the WNBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, so she would not participate in a special challenge during the NBA All-Star.

Facing difficulty in finalizing the 2 vs. 2, the league attempted to explore other ways to revive the match-up between Curry and Ionescu, even considering integrating it into the Sunday programming among the games of the new mini-tournament of the All-Star, instead of on Saturday like last year.

"We have been exploring different ways to renew this for next year," commented Ionescu after the 2024 competition. "I think he already has a partner in mind, so I am also open to finding someone to help me win and take away that belt he proudly displays."

In last year's event, Curry defeated Ionescu 29-26 in what was the inaugural edition of this type of competition within the NBA exhibition weekend. The match also helped raise funds for their respective foundations.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El All-Star se hunde: No habrá duelo entre Stephen Curry y Sabrina Ionescu