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The NBA needs all the help it can get when it comes to drumming up excitement for All-Star Weekend. There’s zero doubt having Caitlin Clark participate in the Three-Point Contest would be a huge boost, but it sounds like she’s not interested in accepting the invitation for a pretty weird reason.
At this point, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything the NBA can do to inject new life into the All-Star Game that has once again undergone a fairly drastic overhaul in the hopes of making fans care about a contest players have made it very clear they don’t have any interest in taking seriously.
The league has had a bit more success breathing new life into the Dunk Contest with a little bit of help from high-flying G League phenom Mac McClung, and it was also able to add some intrigue to the Three-Point Contest last season by having Steph Curry and WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu got head-to-head in a showdown where the Golden State sharpshooter came out on top.
That was widely considered the highlight of the entire weekend, and it’s only natural the NBA would stage a similar competition this year—just like it’s only natural that it would want Caitlin Clark to be one of the participants.
According to Sports Business Journal, the NBA has reached out to Clark about taking part in a three-point contest that would reportedly feature her and Ionescu facing off against Curry and Klay Thompson, but sources told the outlet she’s currently “disinclined” due to some issues with the format, saying:
“Clark is not interested in shooting 3-pointers off of a ball rack—considering her practice regimen consists only of catch-and-shoot 3-pointers or shots off the dribble—and, unless she is persuaded otherwise, she will decline the invitation.”
I can’t think of any reason why the NBA wouldn’t capitulate to the preference of the most marketable women’s basketball player on the planet by allowing her to opt for a catch-and-shoot approach if the rest of the participants were given the choice to opt in as well, and if that’s really the only hurdle, it would be foolish not to acquiesce.
There’s plenty of time for the two sides to come to an agreement before the Three-Point Contest is held at the Chase Center on February 15th, so this will be an interesting situation to keep an eye on.