When the WNBA released its list of the contestants for the three-point contest ahead of All-Star weekend this week, one of the most accurate shooters in the league, Indiana Fever star guard Sophie Cunningham, wasn’t on it.
That’s hard to believe for a few reasons, the first of which has to do with the fact that she has the second-highest three-point percentage in the WNBA at 43.7%, which is a career-high for Cunningham.
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The other reason is the league is missing the boat on attracting more fans toward the competition by bringing in both Cunningham and her immense fanbase.
Basketball skills coach Drew Hanlen was not a fan of the snub, and Cunningham reposted his X post — and while she didn’t directly take a shot at the WNBA, Cunningham’s repost with the caption “soooo what else is new with everyone” amounted to a subtle jab.
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Cunningham has since deleted the post, but the internet grabbed a screenshot.
According to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Fever superstar Caitlin Clark was selected to take part in the contest, but she declined the invite. Also declining the invite were the New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu and the Minnesota Lynx’s Kayla McBride.
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The six players who will take part in the three-point contest on Friday include the Portland Fire’s Bridget Carleton, the Dallas Wings’ Azzi Fudd, the Seattle Storm’s Nathisha Hiedeman, the Atlanta Dream’s Rhyne Howard, the Toronto Tempo’s Marina Mabrey and the Golden State Valkyries’ Janelle Salaün.
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While all very good three-point shooters, none of them are shooting at a better clip than the Fever guard, nor do they bring the kind of star power Cunningham does.
It would have behooved the WNBA to include Cunningham in the competition to get more eyes on it, but the league failed to do so and it’s just more fuel to the fire regarding the widely held belief the WNBA can’t get out of its own way to help itself.
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Sophie Cunninghan wasn’t the only Fever snub
Three of the top four players on the list of the most accurate three-point shooters are all Fever players. Aliyah Boston sits in the top spot at 46.9%, and Kelsey Mitchell is two spots behind Cunningham in the No. 4 spot with her 42.3% success rate.
You can obviously make the case for all three women to be in the competition, although we could understand the WNBA wanting players from different teams instead of a mostly Fever affair in the contest.
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That said, the fact that not one of them made the cut is surprising.
The WNBA 3-Point Contest will take place on Friday, July 24, at 8 p.m. ET, and the All-Star Game will take place the following day at 8:30 p.m. ET.
