Getty Caitlin Clark of the WNBA's Fever
If you got the sense that Caitlin Clark was being cagey on Wednesday when she was asked about possible participation in the upcoming WNBA 3-point contest at All-Star weekend in Phoenix, which tips off on Friday, then it seems you were right. Clark was noncommittal about joining the fray ahead of the Fever’s loss to Dallas, a game that saw Clark set a league record with 19 assists.
“I don’t know, my focus is on this game tonight, and we’ll turn to All-Star after that. Need to beat Dallas, so …” Clark said, according to an X/Twitter post from Clutch Points reporter Matthew Byrne.
On Wednesday, word came down from the league office, and no, Clark will not be among the participants in the contest. Neither, it turns out, will defending champion Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty.
AP writer Doug Feinberg reported that the WNBA did invite Clark, and Ionsecu, to be part of the contest, but they turned down the offer.
Feinberg wrote on X on Thursday morning: “The @WNBA confirmed that [Sabrina Ionescu] and [Caitlin Clark] were invited for 3-point contest and declined participating. Ionescu is taking part in the Olympic camp which is getting ready for the Paris Games.”
WNBA 3-Point Contest Lacking Star Power
Ionsecu is fourth in the league in 3-pointers made per game, at 2.8. Her participation with Team USA gives her pretty good cause for skipping the contest. Clark is more of a surprise, though. She is fifth in the league in 3-pointers made, at 2.7.
Clark is shooting only 32.7% from the 3-point line this season, after having shot 37.7% from the arc in four years at Iowa. Still, it’s more likely that fatigue, rather than poor overall perimeter shooting this year, is keeping her out fo the contest.
Clark will participate in the All-Star game on Saturday night.
While the contest has lost some star power without Clark and Ionescu—who made 20 straight 3s in her winning effort last season and took on Stephen Curry in a 3-point contest at this year’s NBA All-Star game—there will still be ample talent.
Center Stefanie Dolson of the Mystics, who leads the WNBA among qualified shooters with 48.5% 3-point shooting, is the headliner, with Kayla McBride (Lynx) also a favorite. She has knocked down 42.7% of her 3s, fifth in the league. At 39.6%, Jonquel Jones is the third participant in the contest with a 3-point percentage above 39%–only 11 WNBA players rank that high.
Allisha Gray of Atlanta and Marina Mabrey, recently traded to Connecticut, are also in the mix.
Caitlin Clark Racking Up Big Assist Numbers
Clark can be forgiven for some midseason fatigue, especially with the way she has played lately. After a slow start which saw the Fever tumble to 1-8 in their first nine games, Indiana has gone 10-7 since,
The Fever have made a strong effort to run more offense through Clark lately, and the results have shown in her numbers. She has been playing more like she did with the Hawkeyes, and while there is something to be said for fitting her game to a broader team concept, there is also the notion that perhaps Indiana should let Caitlin Clark cook.
She has been. Clark did not have double-digit assists at all through the Fever’s first 17 games, but in the past nine games, she has hit double-figures assists seven times, including a historic triple-double on July 5 in an upset win over New York.
Clark has not been efficient in that span—shooting 41.9% from the field in nine outings—but she has been a good supporting cast member, dealing an average of 11.9 assists in that span.