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It was a night made for champions.
Specifically, the defending-champion New York Liberty, as Natasha Cloud and Sabrina Ionescu each came away victorious in the Skills Challenge and 3-point Contest to kick off the WNBA All-Star 2025.
Before a crowd of over 15,000 fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the energy was palpable, the best of the best flourished and the weekend got off on the right foot.
The evening kicked off with the Skills Challenge. In addition to Cloud, Courtney Williams of the Minnesota Lynx, Erica Wheeler of the Seattle Storm, Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream and Skylar Diggins of the Storm sought the chance at glory. It ended up coming down to Cloud and Wheeler. Wheeler completed her final round in 37.5 seconds, setting the stage for Cloud.
In the end, Cloud managed to eclipse Wheeler by notching her finishing layup just under 37.5 seconds. In the process, Cloud won a total of $57,575, with $2,575 coming from the league and $55,000 from a partnership between the WNBPA and Aflac. She intends to put a down payment on a house.
Then came the 3-Point Contest.
In addition to Ionescu, Kelsey Plum of the Los Angeles Sparks, Sonia Citron of the Washington Mystics, Gray and Lexie Hull of the Indiana Fever, who subbed in for Caitlin Clark, competed.
The first round saw four of the competitors achieve 20 or more 3-pointers. But, it came down to Gray and Ionescu. Ionescu set the precedent by notching 30 in her final round, an outstanding score that was still seven points short of her record-breaking performance in 2023. All the while, Cloud and fellow Liberty teammate Breanna Stewart cheered from the sidelines. Gray struggled to start her final round, and though she made a comeback, she finished with 22.
Ionescu won her second 3-Point Contest in the last three years. She also secured $62,575 in prize money, giving half to Sonia Citron and the other half to her SI20 Foundation, which provides access to sports for young people.
In addition to the packed house, there were some notable figures in the crowd such as Lisa Leslie, Leslie Jones, Tyrese Haliburton, Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, and Bam Adebayo. Former Los Angeles Laker center Pau Gasol and his wife Catherine, who are close friends of Ionescu, were also in attendance. Ionescu spoke about Gasol support of her and women’s basketball, sharing:
He supports me every step of the way. We talk, we’re really close. He helps on the mental part of the game and in every aspect. He’s a huge advocate for women’s sports. He’s at the Olympics. He’s here always supporting the W. I think that’s really important and it shows. The W genuinely embraces him and loves him for the support that he’s brought to our sport. Obviously for me, that’s someone like family. I love him, happy that he’s here and told him that’s probably the reason that I won, because he walked into the door. So really happy to see him.
