Caitlin Clark expected to face 1 NBA star in shooting contest next season
Mar 3, 2024; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (22) in action against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
The NBA is trying to get in on Caitlin Clark Mania.
Shams Charania of The Athletic appeared Tuesday on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” and revealed the NBA plans to feature the Iowa basketball superstar Clark at All-Star Weekend next season. Clark and Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson are expected to compete in a shooting contest against each other during the weekend. It would potentially be part of a 2v2 with Thompson’s fellow Splash Brother Steph Curry going for Round 2 against Sabrina Ionescu of the WNBA’s New York Liberty as well.
"At this point Stephen Curry versus Sabrina Ionescu is very likely for next year…I'm told with Caitlin Clark and potentially Klay Thompson to make it 2v2."@ShamsCharania updates on next years #NBA All Star
📺: https://t.co/wdT8I0ST8g pic.twitter.com/TNprQELkIV— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) April 2, 2024
Curry and Ionescu already competed against each other in an entertaining 1v1 shooting contest at NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis this year. The former was victorious by a final score of 29-26 (with the latter also shooting from the NBA three-point line but with WNBA basketballs).
As for Clark, who is all but certain to be starring in the WNBA by that point, she would obviously have her hands full with Thompson. The 34-year-old Thompson is one of the greatest pure shooters ever and ranks sixth all-time in three-pointers made (2,450) and 22nd all-time in three-point percentage (.413). But going off some of the NBA-range threes that the NCAA’s all-time leading women’s scorer Clark was just hitting in an Elite Eight win over LSU this week, she should be more than able to hold her own.
