Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu ripped 3-Point Contest 'lies' before stunning the Sky

Sabrina Ionescu will not participate in the 3-Point Contest at All-Star Weekend this year.

The New York Liberty star says it wasn't up to her, amid a report which stated that she declined an invite to the event.

“I can’t decline an offer I never got officially invited to," Ionescu said Wednesday, before the Liberty hosted the Chicago Sky in the final game before the All-Star break. “So was pretty surprised to see that — never got invited."

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The WNBA on Thursday implied in a statement that some dialogue with Ionescu's camp had taken place -- without conversations ever reaching the point where an official invite would have been extended.

Regardless of who is right and who is wrong in "Invitegate," Ionescu won't defend her crown on Friday, when Chicago's Wintrust Arena will host the 2026 3-Point Contest.

And the controversy didn't seem to distract Ionescu much on Wednesday, when she had her best game of the season to lead the Liberty to a win over the Sky.

Ionescu caught fire in the final minute of a game that appeared to be out of the Liberty's grasp.

Down 93-85 at Barclays Center, Ionescu scored nine points the final 58.9 seconds as the Liberty pulled out a much-needed 95-94 win.

Ionescu, who has battled through injuries for much of 2026, scored a season-high 29 points as the Liberty won a second consecutive game by a single point.

It certainly wasn't a bad response to the 3-Point Contest controversy.

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