WNBA All-Star grades: Liberty's Ionescu, Cloud sweep 3-point, skills challenge crowns
Indianapolis is hosting its first WNBA All-Star Game. But the festivities had a New York flavor Friday night. The Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu won the 3-point shooting contest for the second time in three years, while teammate Natasha Cloud took home the skills challenge title.
It's the second time in WNBA history that players from the same team have won both competitions, which have been held at every All-Star Game since 2019, but the first time that has happened with two different players. In 2024, Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream won both competitions, but she was unable to successfully defend either title Friday.
To break down all of the action Friday in the skills challenge and 3-point contest, ESPN graded all five competitors in both competitions. All-Star Weekend continues Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) with Team Clark vs. Team Collier.
Jump to: 3-point contest | Skills Challenge
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty Grade: A
After sitting out last year, Ionescu returned to show why she and four-time winner Allie Quigley are the only acceptable answers for the WNBA's 3-point contest GOAT.
For anyone else, Ionescu's score of 25 in the first round -- tied for second best of the night -- would have been a highlight. Ionescu made 13 of her last 16 shot attempts, including a deep 3. For Ionescu, that was just a warmup.
In the final, Ionescu missed her first two shots and her last three, which led her to say she was "pretty disappointed" because she "missed a few easy ones." Everyone else was amazed by Ionescu making 11 consecutive shots at one point, including the deep 3, reminiscent of her record score of 37 during the 2023 final.
Ionescu settled for a 30-point round, giving her two of the three times WNBA players have scored 30-plus in the 3-point contest since the current format was adopted in 2021. Quigley, with a round of 30 in the finals, was fittingly the other player to reach that mark.
Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream Grade: A-
Going last as the defending champ, Gray set up the anticipated showdown of the past two winners by making four shots and the money ball from each of the last three racks. That tied Ionescu's score of 25 in the opening round. Gray got on a similar roll from the left wing in the finals, going 5-for-5 after making the deep 3 from that side, but it was already too late to catch Ionescu. Gray missed her first four shots of the finals and went 0-of-5 from the top of the key. Gray's score of 22 points in the finals nonetheless matched the best round by anyone but her and Ionescu.
Kelsey Plum, Los Angeles Sparks Grade: B
The middle of Plum's round put her in the early lead. She made three from the top of the key, the right deep 3 and four of five from the right wing. Had Plum made her final shot, worth two points, she would have made things really interesting for the two finalists. Instead, Plum finished third behind the two previous champions.
Sonia Citron, Washington Mystics Grade: B-
The lone rookie in the field might have needed to move her money ball rack. Citron made four of her high-arching shots from the left wing and all five from the top of the key but went 1-of-5 from the right wing with double points for all shots. Simply flipping the two wings would have given Citron a couple more points and pushed her out of last place. For that spot, Citron's score was more than respectable.
Lexie Hull, Indiana Fever Grade: B-
The Fever's only player to compete Friday was a late replacement for teammate Caitlin Clark, who had to withdraw due to injury. Early on, it looked like Hull's shot -- reliant on a large vertical jump -- might not translate to the 3-point contest. She had just three points through the first two racks before making one of the deep 3s. Hull caught fire down the stretch, making eight of her last 10 shots -- including four of five from the money ball rack -- but it wasn't enough to reach the finals.
Skills challengeNatasha Cloud, New York Liberty Grade: A
I thought Cloud was out of the finals after she needed all three attempts on both 3-point shots, but she managed to race through the final pass and the hoop for a layup just ahead of Erica Wheeler's time of 37.5 seconds. Cloud ended with the night's two best times, displaying a mastery of both skill and the strategy that can separate winners from losers in the skills challenge.
Erica Wheeler, Seattle Storm Grade: A-
The longtime member of the Indiana Fever got a huge cheer from the crowd when she referred to her home-court advantage in the competition. It looked like that might be enough to carry the 2019 All-Star MVP to victory, overcoming a gaffe in the opening round. Focusing on fundamentals and making her first shot or pass, Wheeler had enough cushion to advance even though she smoked her first layup attempt. In the finals, Wheeler set the bar for Cloud, but slowing down when she needed multiple attempts at the above-the-break 3-pointer cost her.
Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream Grade: B-
The defending champ, Gray moved quickly through the course -- perhaps too fast for her own good. Gray was already trying to move on to the next station when she missed her first chest pass and had to double back. Gray needed all three attempts, leaving her too far behind to reach the final round despite strong shooting.
Courtney Williams, Minnesota Lynx Grade: C
After a strong start with bounce passes, Williams wasn't clean enough the rest of the round. Williams needed multiple attempts on her outlet passes and shots, leaving her with a score of 42.0 seconds that surpassed only Diggins. Ahead of playing in Saturday's All-Star Game, that left Williams time to focus on her livestream with Natisha Hiedeman.
Skylar Diggins, Seattle Storm Grade: C-
Diggins' opening round reflected an issue with the skills challenge rules that the NBA and WNBA haven't rectified after the San Antonio Spurs were disqualified at NBA All-Star Saturday Night for attempting to exploit it. Because players move on with no penalty after three missed shots (or passes), there's no actual benefit to making the last shot -- as Diggins did from all three locations. The time Diggins spent on those attempts doomed her to the first round's slowest time.
espn
