Why was Saturday's 3-point contest between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu so compelling? The easy answer was that Ionescu represented the first WNBA player to compete against an NBA player in an event like this, but it's not 1973 anymore. We didn't need a Battle of the Sexes style bout to know how many incredible shooters the WNBA has.
No, the intrigue came out of the event's novelty. A typical 3-point contest is so big and impersonal that the individual faces get lost in the crowd. There's no theme or narrative to tie the event together, no individual competition to create sorely needed storylines. Curry vs. Ionescu had all of those things. It was the NBA vs. the WNBA, yes, but it was also easy to build a story around two competitors instead of eight. The best vs. the best.
If the NBA wants to replicate that event's success, it should consider other possible format shifts to create real drama in these contests. Here are five possible matches the basketball world would love to see.
1. Caitlin Clark vs. Sabrina Ionescu vs. Stephen Curry
Saturday's Ionescu vs. Curry battle felt like the beginning of something new. It seems like a safe guess at this stage to assume that we are eventually moving towards a 3-point contest that features multiple WNBA players or perhaps even turns into a 50-50 split. At the very least, next year's event needs to include another big name that is WNBA-bound.
Caitlin Clark is currently at Iowa, but she'll likey be a professional next year. In truth, she has more in common with Curry than Ionescu does. She is the first player of any gender to match Curry's range, and she has a higher career 3-point percentage in college (38.3%) than Ionescu has in the pros (37.7%). We may wind up waiting a few years before the WNBA is fully integrated into the 3-Point Contest, but Clark has to be involved next season.
2. The Splash Brothers vs. Everybody
Okay, hear me out: what if we shifted the entire format toward teams. We begin with eight shooters, two per team from actual NBA rosters. The highest combined score out of two teammates advances to face the Splash Brothers in the final. Winner take all.
Aside from the fun of pitting other elite shooting combinations against the gold standard, we could also kick off the Splash Brothers challenge in San Francisco at next year's All-Star Weekend to give it a bit of a hometown flair. Imagine, say, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant trying to knock off Curry and Klay Thompson in their own building. Doesn't that sound more compelling than eight loosely connected shooters?
3. Righties vs. Lefties
Okay, this one's a bit more of a stretch, but we're in a golden age of lefties in the NBA right now. James Harden, Jalen Brunson, De'Aaron Fox, Mike Conley and D'Angelo Russell are all high-level lefty ball-handlers. We split the bracket in half: four lefties on one side and four righties on the other. Every year, we crown a left-handed champion and a right-handed champion. Then the two champions face off to decide once and for all which hand is superior.
Would guards vs. bigs be simpler? Sure, but we've been there and done that with the skills competition. We're aiming for innovation here, and righties vs. lefties fits the bill.
4. Reggie Miller vs. Ray Allen
What, you're not at least a little curious? They say shooting doesn't age. Let's put that theory to the test by putting the two best pre-Curry shooters in NBA history head to head. Allen, a decade Miller's junior, would seemingly have the advantage, but that's part of the drama. We'd likely need to eliminate the timer to give the old-timers a slightly easier time, but admit it, you want to see whether or not these two still have a couple of shots left in them. This matchup probably wouldn't have much staying power, but on a one-time basis, a contest of retirees would be must-watch television.
5. LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan
Just indulge me my pipe dream, alright? Jordan is only three years older than Miller. If Reggie can shoot, so can Michael. You know what? Scratch that. There's no way you can still shoot, Michael, and if you want to take that declaration personally and prove me wrong on the All-Star Weekend stage? Well, OK, if you insist, we'll set this one up for you.
In all seriousness, this one would never happen. Jordan hasn't maintained much of a public presence lately. James would have little to gain: he'd either be an obvious winner as an active All-Star or an embarrassed loser to a man two decades removed from his own career. But none of this matters. These are matchups we want to see, and I defy you to find a single basketball fan that wouldn't want to see a James vs. Jordan shootout.
