Stephen Curry is known as the greatest 3-point shooter in NBA history. Meanwhile, Sabrina Ionescu is on her way to asserting her position as the best 3-point shooter in the WNBA, the top basketball tournament for women. And at NBA All-Star 2024 in Indianapolis, both will have the opportunity to compete in 3-point shooting.

This rivalry has long been suggested between the two basketball stars. Ionescu tweeted about Curry on July 15 after setting a record with 37 points in the WNBA All-Star 3-Point Contest last summer.

Curry accepted the challenge not long after Ionescu issued the challenge.  “I want to break Sabrina’s record, ” Curry said on ESPN on July 17.  “She went crazy with 37 points at All-Star week. I guess we have to settle this: who shot the 3?” better score?”.

After the game on January 25, Curry asked rookie Brandin Podziemski who had the record for points in the 3-Point Throwing Contest, Podziemski answered Ionescu. 

Afterwards, Curry joked with Podziemski: “I thought I had to take her outside and say, ‘We have to settle this once and for all.’

Currently, information about this competition has not been revealed, but it certainly must change, because the NBA and WNBA fields have big differences. NBA players shoot from 22 feet (6m7) in the corner and 23.9 feet (7m23) in other positions. While these parameters in WNBA are 20 feet (6m09) and 20.6 feet (6m4).

Stephen Curry’s statistics in the NBA

The two players are at different stages in their careers. Curry, 35, is in his 15th season in the NBA. He has 9 All-Star appearances, 2 scoring champions, 2 MVPs and 4 NBA championships.

The career of the Golden State Warriors superstar is associated with 3-point shots. Curry can score points in any position if opponents give him space. It was Curry who forced the entire NBA to change its playing style and pay more attention to three-point shots.

Here are Curry’s career stats:

Match
FG-FGA (FG%)
3P-3PA (3P%)
FT-FTA (FT%)
Medium score
Average build
Average rebounds
Average Steals
Average blocks

921
7,767-16,397 (47.4%)
3,568-8,372 (42.6%)
3,656-4,019 (91.0%)
24.7
6.4
4.7
1.6
0.2

Stephen Curry’s 3-point shots

Curry has established himself as the best 3-point shooter in NBA history. He led the league in career 3-pointers made and holds the record for 3-pointers made with 3,568 made. The person ranked behind Curry is Ray Allen with 2,973, 595 points behind. Notably, Allen has retired.

Curry also achieved an impressive career high in three-point shooting percentage at 42.6%. In NBA history, only Kyle Korver (42.9%) can beat Curry in efficiency among players who have shot at least 4,000 career 3-pointers,  according to Stathead . Curry mainly shoots 3-pointers from the two wings of the semicircle.

NBA.com

Even though Curry doesn’t make many 3-point shots from both corners, when he gets the chance to shoot, he’s still impressively efficient, shooting over 55.0% from both sides.

NBA.com

Curry has won the 3-point contest twice, just one shy of the record shared by Larry Bird and Craig Hodges. Curry’s wins came in the 2014/15 and 2020/21 seasons. He made 27/34 shots in the first victory and 28/40 in the second victory.

Curry held the record with 31 points scored in 3-Point Contests, a record that held until 2023.

Sabrina Ionescu’s statistics in WNBA

Ionescu is still early in her WNBA career, but what she’s done in her early years is incredible. She was a two-time All-Star and excited fans with her ability to shoot from anywhere on the field and become a constant threat to every team.

Here’s a look at Ionescu’s impressive career to date:

Match
FG-FGA (FG%)
3P-3PA (3P%)
FT-FTA (FT%)
Medium score
Average build
Average rebounds
Average Steals 
Average blocks 

105
538-1,314 (40.9%)
272-721 (37.7%)
298-328 (90.9%)
15.7
5.9
6.1
0.9
0.3

Sabrina Ionescu’s 3-point shots

Ionescu has a very impressive 3-point shooting record. She has made 272 3-pointers, ranking fourth among WNBA players in her first four career seasons, behind Diana Taurasi (334), Katie Smith (287) and Kelsey Mitchell (275),  according to Stathead . However, Ionescu only played 3 matches in 2020 due to an ankle injury.

Ionescu’s 3-point shooting improved significantly in 2023, her third season in the WNBA. Ionescu shot just 32.5% and 33.3% from the 3-point line in 2021 and 2022, but jumped to 44.8% in 2023. Like Curry, Ionescu makes the majority of his 3-pointers. of Ionescu on the flanks, while only 20 of her shots came from the corners in 2023.

WNBA.com

Ionescu doesn’t have many 3-pointers in the corner, but still has a 40% success rate on her attempts. That shows Ionescu’s ability to make shots from anywhere on the court.

WNBA.com

In the 2023 3-Point Contest, she successfully shot 25/27 and scored 37/40 possible points in the contest, thereby setting new scoring records in both the NBA and WNBA. Ionescu successfully threw 20 consecutive shots after missing the first shot. She was successful in every throw from both wings.

3-point contest rules

There will be 5 ball grooves, placed in 5 positions outside the semicircle: 2 corners, 2 wings and the middle. Each ball slot has 5 balls. Throwers must try to throw all 25 balls within the specified time. 

Each slot will have a money ball, worth 2 points instead of 1 point. In addition, among the 5 slots there will be a slot containing 5 money balls. Throwers will arrange the positions of the pitching grooves depending on each person’s strengths. 

In addition, from 2020, in addition to the 5 main tracks, the competition will also arrange 2 additional tracks in a position far away from the semicircle. Each successful throw from that distance will score 3 points.

The maximum number of points a thrower can achieve in the competition is 40 points.