Liberty's Natasha Cloud to Partake in All-Star Skills Challenge
The forecast in Indianapolis for WNBA All-Star Weekend just got a little Cloudier thanks to the arrival of one New York Liberty star.
The league announced that first-year Liberty star Natasha Cloud will partake in the Skills Competition set to be held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), a day before some of the league's top stars do battle in the latest edition of the women's basketball exhibition.
Cloud was one of the most-referenced snubs in discussions surrounding the All-Star rosters, which feature her teammates Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart respectively doing battle on teams captained and curated by Caitlin Clark (Indiana) and Napheesa Collier (Minnesota).
But Cloud will get her due in the lead-up, set to partake in a de facto obstacleThe course featuring stations that will test dribbling, bounce, chest, and outlet passes, and shots from the elbow, top of the arc, and the corner. The two top-timed women will advance to a final round, whose winner will earn the title.
Cloud was added in a late offseason trade with the Phoenix Mercury and has lived up to the expectations many have had in store for her ever since she and Ionescu did battle in the 2023 postseason when the Skills Challenge entrant was stationed with the Washington Mystics.
That backcourt battle has gone down as one of the most memorable one-on-one clashes in recent WNBA memory and the two have bounced off each other well: Ionescu is averaging a career-best 18.8 points per game while Cloud has earned 9.6 points and 6.1 assists in her own work.
This will be Cloud's first showing in the Skills Challenge, which was previously won by Ionescu during the 2022 festivities in Chicago. Cloud will go up against Seattle Storm teammates Skylar Diggins and Erica Wheeler, as well as Allisha Gray (Atlanta) and Courtney Williams (Minnesota).
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.