WNBA All-Star Weekend begins Friday night with the annual 3-Point Contest and the debut of the new Shooting Stars competition, which replaces the traditional Skills Challenge as part of the league’s 30th anniversary celebration.
While the 3-Point Contest remains largely unchanged, it didn’t come without some questions and drama surrounding who’s competing. Meanwhile, Shooting Stars will showcase three generations of women’s basketball talent in a new team-based format. Winners in both events will also take home significant prize money from the league and the WNBA Players Association through an Aflac sponsorship.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new competition, the 3-Point Contest, and predictions for who will come out on top.
What is Shooting Stars, the competition that is replacing the WNBA’s Skills contest?
The WNBA is following the NBA’s lead by adopting the Shooting Stars competition, which made its return during NBA All-Star Weekend this past February after an 11-year hiatus.
Back when this was an annual competition in the 2000s and 2010s NBA All-Star Weekends, WNBA players would participate alongside current NBA players and legendary NBA players. At the time, now-retired WNBA players such as Swin Cash, Becky Hammon, Cappie Pondexter, Katie Smith, Diana Taurasi, and Lisa Leslie were all winners of this competition during NBA All-Star Weekend.
For the WNBA’s 30th season, Shooting Stars will honor the league’s past, present and future. Each team features a current WNBA player, a league legend and a participant from Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), one of the country’s top under-17 girls basketball circuits.
The competition goes as follows: four teams of three participants which will include a current WNBA player, former WNBA player and a Nike EYL player will compete in a two round timed competition to score as many points from seven different locations on the floor, which includes layups, three-pointers and shots in the mid-range. Teresa Weatherspoon and Cynthia Cooper, the two GMs of the All-Star teams, will be in charge of distributing the basketballs to the teams during the competition.
Just like with the WNBA’s three-point contest, the top two scoring teams will advance to the second round and will battle it out to determine the winner.
Each three-person group represents a current or former WNBA franchise. The WNBA player and league legend on each team have ties to that franchise, while the EYBL participant will be assigned separately.
Team Minnesota Lynx: Rebekkah Brunson and Courtney Williams
Williams, one half of the infamous StudBudz duo, is known for her playmaking, high elevation mid-range jumpers and high rebounding motor from the guard spot. But what about her current Lynx assistant coach in Brunson, the winner of five WNBA titles, the most in WNBA history?
Brunson was known for her high motor as a premier rebounder and excellent defender from the power forward spot. She added a three-pointer much later in her career but was also a front court glue player who played with high feel and instincts. There aren’t many players like Brunson today, although Angel Reese and her knack to rebound the ball is definitely a Brunson callback.
Team Seattle Storm: Flau’jae Johnson and Lauren Jackson
Johnson the rookie has been wowing fans with her athleticism, which includes three-level scoring and excellent perimeter defense. She’s currently the Storm’s third leading scoring behind sophomore Dominique Malonga and Natisha Hiedeman, the other half of the StudBudz duo.
She’ll be competing alongside Australian Lauren Jackson who helped revolutionize women’s pro basketball with her versatility. Her game was defined by a mix of strong physical postplay alongside an excellent shooting touch from the perimeter. She also was a proficient defender who rebounded and protected the rim effectively. Jackson walked so Jonquel Jones could run.
Team Washington Mystics: Elena Delle Donne and Shakira Austin
Austin has been the Mystics two-way front court force. She’s actively been working on her playmaking and shooting while continuing her dominance inside and scoring from her faceup game. Defensively, Austin has consistently proven to have the length and athleticism to successfully defend some of the league’s premier frontcourt players.
Delle Donne, like Jackson, continued to revolutionize what a front court player could do. But Delle Donne played much more like a guard or a wing rather than a post player like Jackson. Before Breanna Stewart or Napheesa Collier there was Donne who became the first WNBA player to join the 50/40/90 club, an elite group of players who have seasons where they shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the free throw line.
Team Dallas Wings/ Detroit Shock: Deanna “Tweety” Nolan and Jessica Shepard
First let me explain why there are two locations listed here. The Detroit Shock were one of the earliest WNBA expansion teams, coming into the league in 1998. The Shock moved to Tulsa in 2010 and then five years later the team moved again to become the rebranded Dallas Wings.
Shepard has been a force this season for the Wings who has put up four triple-doubles this season and has established herself as one of the best passing bigs in the league. She’s a front-runner for most improved player and a first time All-Star this season. She’ll be competing alongside one of the most talented two-way players in Nolan. Imagine if Kelsey Mitchell was a more consistent defender, that’s the best way to describe what Nolan’s game was like.
Prediction:
Team Washington Mystics will come out on top because their team which includes Austin, Delle Donne and a young up-and-comer to be determined will all be under 40 years old which will bode well for a competition based on speed and accuracy.
Delle Donne is only a mere three years out from playing in the W and I expect her to be in good form. She was named the managing director of USA Basketball’s 3x3 women’s national team this past September and Austin was rostered on USA’s 2026 3x3 challenge cup team this past March. I expect that synergy to play out.
Buckets Incoming!
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 21, 2026
Meet the competitors for this year’s @StateFarm 3-Point Contest at #WNBAAllStar ⭐
Who’s taking home the crown? 🏆
📺 Find out FRIDAY, July 24 8pm/ET on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/fwbCpqHqoN
There will be a new three-point champion. But there was some drama first
When the WNBA announced the participants for the annual three-point contest, a bunch of reports came out that three well-known shooters in Sabrina Ionesecu, a two-time winner of the contest, Caitlin Clark and Kayla McBride, the Lynx sharpshooter with a 39.8 percent clip from three this year, all declined to participate.
It all became quite curious when Ionescu commented on an Instagram post with the report that this was a lie. She didn’t get a formal invitation. Ionescu was asked about this a day later and said that she couldn’t “decline an offer” that she didn’t actually receive.
“So I was pretty surprised to see that,” she said. Never got invited. I’m really excited for the participants in it, and obviously there’s going to be a new winner, so I’m excited to see who wins.”
Ionescu, who won the contest last year and in 2023, holds the all-time WNBA and NBA record for the highest score in a three-Point Contest. She noted that she would have wanted to try to beat her own record of 37 points scored.
And then the drama continued on Instagram when McBride also acknowledged the report and said that she got what she called a “half ass invite” via her agent in a text message.
"I received a half ass invite to the 3 pt contest through my agent in a text randomly 48 hours ago ... not officially."
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 22, 2026
Kayla McBride clears up the narrative that she "declined" to participate in the All-Star 3-pt Contest. pic.twitter.com/JCyv2rMPS4
McBride, who has appeared in three previous three-point contests, ended her post on her Instagram story saying that she’d be much more interested in doing the contest again when pin down screens were involved rather than just shooting off racks, making a joke about how she shoots the basketball best.
The WNBA then responded and said that their process is to reach out to player agents to determine a player’s interest.
Sabrina Ionescu said yesterday re: her involvement in the 3pt contest, "I can't decline an offer I never officially got invited to."
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) July 23, 2026
From a WNBA spokesperson: “Our general process is to reach out to agents to determine a player’s interest, and some accept and some decline.”
Anyway, now for who’s actually in the contest, the Fire’s Bridget Carlton, Azzi Fudd of the Wings, the Storm’s Hiedeman and the Janelle Salaün of Valkyries are all new to the contest this year. But, Rhyne Howard and Marina Mabrey will return to the contest for their second go at it.
3-Point Contest Prediction:
Azzi Fudd will be the WNBA’s new three-point champion because of her extremely consistent shooting form and that will translate smoothly to being able to fire shots off a rack. Her shot chart indicates that she can consistently shoot the ball almost anywhere beyond the three point line. Fudd’s nerves will come into play during the first round, but once she finds her rhythm, gets comfortable and settles in, she will defeat Howard narrowly to become the new three-point champion.
Fudd and Ionescu will have to battle it out in 2027.
