Sabrina Ionescu denies report that she turned down chance to compete in WNBA 3-point contest: 'I can't decline an offer I never got officially invited to'

· Yahoo Sports

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu will not be participating in the WNBA’s three-point contest as part of this weekend’s All-Star festivities — not by choice, she says.

Reports on Tuesday had swirled that Ionescu — who holds the all-time three-point contest record among either the WNBA or NBA — had been among the high-profile players to decline an invite to the competition. But ahead of the Liberty’s matchup against the Chicago Sky on Wednesday, Ionescu told reporters that she was never invited in the first place.

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“I can't decline an offer I never got officially invited to. So was pretty surprised to see that. Never got invited,” Ionescu said, via multiple outlets. “Whether it's against Steph Curry or in the W, I always go out and try and beat my record, every single time I've gone out.

“I just kind of wanted to set the record straight. Like that was just false, but I'm really excited for the participants in it, and obviously there's going to be a new winner, so I'm excited to see who wins.”

When asked a follow-up question about the issue, Ionescu added a bit of shade: "Maybe I’ll do it with Steph again at NBA All-Star and get a really nice official invite,” she said, via the New York Post’s Madeline Kenney.

This year’s lineup for the contest includes Bridget Carleton, Azzi Fudd, Natisha Hiedeman, Rhyne Howard, Marina Mabrey and Janelle Salaün. Of that group, only Howard and Mabrey have participated in the competition in past All-Star weekends, though neither have won.

As the lineups were announced, USA Today’s Meghan L. Hall had reported that Ionescu, Caitlin Clark and Kayla McBride had all been invited to play, but declined.

Ionescu’s first denial of that report came on Tuesday: On a since-deleted Instagram post from Bleacher Report that said Ionescu was among the players who declined to participate, the Liberty guard commented, simply, “lies.”

McBride has also pushed back on that idea, posting on her Instagram story on Wednesday that she’d only “received a half ass invite” to the contest on Monday via a text from her agent.

“Posting things like I’m afraid of shooting smoke is weird and if you didn’t hear it from me prob shouldn’t believe it,” McBride wrote. “We should focus on the great shooters in it already!!! Because there’s some killas in there.”

Ionescu has won the competition both times she’s played it, kicking off with a stunning 37-point performance to take the title in 2023. That tally, the most in WNBA or NBA three-point contest history, led her to take on Stephen Curry in the NBA’s version of the event the next year, losing narrowly.

She then returned to the WNBA competition last year, and won.

Ionescu, a four-time All-Star, was not named to this year’s All-Star roster after missing significant time with multiple injuries. She missed the start of the season with an ankle injury, before missing a stretch of games last month with a back injury.

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