Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark is being blamed for her decision leading to an NBA failure for the 2025 All-Star Weekend in San Francisco.
At 23, Clark is the darling of the WNBA, earning the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year award in 2024. The Iowa Hawkeyes standout averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 8.4 assists in her rookie season.
Clark’s specialty is being a sharpshooter from beyond the three-point arc, and the guard made 122 three-point baskets out of 355 attempts (34.4%). Her notoriety and skill prompted the NBA to extend an offer to Clark to participate in an NBA-WNBA shootout during the All-Star Weekend, as Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu did in 2024.
Clark declined.
Indiana Fever star’s decision led to NBA fiasco
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the NBA canceled the event in 2025 because of the optics a day before the weekend’s festivities were set to start. The league was afraid they couldn’t raise the level of excitement.
“NBA-WNBA shootout with Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu is off,” Charania posted on X. “NBA’s Mike Bass: ‘We weren’t able to land on a plan we thought would raise the bar off of last year’s special moment. We all agreed not to proceed and will instead keep the focus on All-Star Sunday’s new format.'”
NBA-WNBA shootout with Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu is off. NBA's Mike Bass: "We weren't able to land on a plan we thought would raise the bar off of last year’s special moment. We all agreed not to proceed and will instead keep the focus on All-Star Sunday’s new format.”
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 13, 2025
Clark’s participation would have raised the bar enough to keep the contest on the schedule.
Caitlin Clark blamed for NBA All-Star Weekend fiasco
Basketball fans are blaming Clark for the league’s decision to cancel the contest.
“We want Caitlyn not Sabrina, why do you keep pushing Sabrina on us so much,” asked a fan.
“This is actually the biggest blow to All Star Saturday night, the NBA WNBA shootout was the best thing last year,” posted another.
“Clark turned them down so they just scraped the whole idea,” suggested a fan.
“Clark really flexed her power on this one. It would have been a go if she had agreed. They will do a similar event for the WNBA season,” argued another.
“Couldn’t get Caitlin Clark to do 3 Point Contest. Should at least have Angel Reese do an inaugural lay up contest,” wrote a fan.
“Meaning Caitlin Clark wouldn’t join, so it’s canceled,” posted another.
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