Two York in Three-Point Contest: Knicks' Brunson, Liberty's Ionescu Ready to Rep NY on All-Star Saturday
It takes two to make a three a go right.
Though the New York Knicks and New York Liberty franchises are no longer business siblings (the latter being sold by Madison Square Garden to Brooklyn Nets ownership led by Joe Tasi in 2019), seafoam and blue will indirectly reunite when their headliners compete from deep as part of the NBA's All-Star Saturday festivities (8 p.m. ET, TNT).
Jalen Brunson of the Knicks will partake in the NBA's traditional Three-Point Contest while the Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu faces a one-on-one shootout battle with Stephen Curry in a hardwood Battle of the Sexes entitled "Steph vs. Sabrina."
Brandon Todd, NY Liberty
"Obviously, we're competing against each other, but it's really for what it stands for," Ionescu said of her showdown with Curry at Team USA Olympic training camp. "I think the ability for both of us to get out there and have a shooting competition is always exciting. It's about understanding what it means for not only myself but also the (WNBA) and women's basketball as a whole. It's going to be really exciting and I think it's going to be really fun.
A city known for worshipping a roundball diety, New York's immediate hardwood future has been firmly placed in and grasped by Brunson and Ionescu: the former has brought legitimate, lasting hope to the star-crossed Knicks franchise while Ionescu's West Coast flair has come to define the Liberty's newfound Brooklyn era.
Ionescu now gets to play with another mini-superteam, as she and Brunson are well-versed in each other's games thanks to amateur efforts in the Team USA program.
"With him now in New York, just being able to watch his growth and development and rooting him on from this side, in Brooklyn, that's really exciting," Ionescu said. "To see what he's done this year, to see the buzz around the city with how he's been playing, how (the Knicks) have been playing the numbers he's been able to put up, it's exciting. At the end of the day, we are going out there and competing, but it's all for the same cause: just trying to be our best and represent what we represent."
USA TODAY SPORTS, Brad Penner
Brunson returned the praise when speaking to All Knicks in a Zoom interview, honored to share the job of restoring metropolitan hoops to its former state of glory.
"She's done such great things. I mean, she's been amazing. She has practically brought New York City basketball back on the map, that's what she's been able to do," Brunson said. "Just to be able to share the limelight with her, it's an honor because what she's been able to do has been nothing short of spectacular."
Though the Ionescu-Curry tilt is the first of its kind, this won't be the first time that Knicks and Liberty stars have collaborated on All-Star Weekend: Knicks legend Allan Houston teamed up with seafoam stars Rebecca Lobo and Becky Hammon during the cooperative 2Ball competition in 1998 and 2000 respectively. Houston returned with then-current New Yorkers Landry Fields and Cappie Pondexter when the event was semi-revived as the Shooting Stars Competition for the 2012 festivities, beating a joint Texas group as well as Atlanta and Orlando.
