Sabrina Ionescu in the 2024 Stephen vs. Sabrina 3-pt contest Tribune Content Agency
Every year a new milestone is reached in women’s professional sports from the lacrosse field to the basketball court. But one constant that follows these athletic feats is the undervaluing of what gets accomplished.
On Saturday, Feb. 17 NBA-star Stephen Curry and WNBA-star Sabrina Ionescu faced off against each other in the first NBA All-Star event of its kind: a three-point contest between the NBA and WNBA’s best three-point shooters.
Ionescu lost the shoot-out but gave the greatest NBA three-point shooter ever a run for his money.
Curry, a future hall of famer, won 29-26 but Ionescu going toe-to-toe with him was the real story. Or it was supposed to be.
Much like many performances by female athletes, what Ionescu did on the court was minimized, even before she took her first shot of the competition.
The worst commentary about Ionescu didn’t come from social media, rather from NBA analyst Kenny Smith.
Smith, a former player who has been an analyst since 1998, made several comments throughout the broadcast about Ionescu that were less than favorable.
The belittling commentary began while Curry and Ionescu were doing their warm-ups. Smith said the WNBA point guard would have an advantage because she’d be shooting with the WNBA regulation size ball, which is smaller than the NBA ball.
You know, the ball that was sized to fit the average woman’s hand since women’s hands are genetically smaller than a man’s.
Right off the bat Smith was setting a tone that was beyond simply believing Curry would win. He was laying the groundwork of excuses to fall back on in the case that Ionescu won.
It was blatantly obvious Smith was going to find a way to belittle what Ionescu was accomplishing, win or lose.
The worst of his comments came right after Curry won the contest, and I seriously mean mere seconds after the competition was over Smith started his disgusting commentary again.
“I think she should’ve shot from the women’s line,” he muttered over the crowd’s cheers, going on to say it would have made for a fairer contest.
But Kenny, I thought she already had an advantage because she was using a smaller ball? Wouldn’t she have had more of an advantage if she was shooting from closer range?
The funny part is that Ionescu’s 26 points tied for the highest total from the night’s NBA three-point contest. She would have been a finalist in the regular contest.
Something that was not mentioned nearly enough in the broadcast is Ionescu holds the all-time record for most points in a three-point round with 37. The next closest is Curry with 31.
Even when former NBA player Reggie Miller pushed back and asked why Smith was putting boundaries on her abilities, Smith retorted with “there is a women’s tee in golf and there is a men’s tee for a reason.”
Miller was so disturbed by Smith’s comments he even said “According to you, you want her to be playing with dolls.”
What I found to be the strangest thing about these comments– besides the fact he actually said them on national television– was that Ionescu wanted to shoot from the NBA line. In fact, Ionescu told CBS Sports Reporter Isabel Gonzalez she practices from NBA range.
The annoyance surrounding Smith’s comments didn’t stop at his coworkers though, many viewers of the event took to social media to voice their disappointment in the long-time analyst.
Even NBA player Joel Embiid chimed in, posting on X “Kenny smith been drinkin lmao.”
What was so frustrating about Smith’s comments throughout the night was they took away from what Ionescu accomplished. And he did it intentionally.
No matter what an athlete accomplishes, regardless of the sport she plays, someone will find a way to discredit what she does and say a man can do it better.
Ionescu could have shot 40/40 and there would have been imbeciles all over, including Smith, who would have come up with excuse after excuse as to why Ionescu beat Curry instead of simply saying she beat him.
What Kenny Smith said about Sabrina Ionescu during a historic event was beyond shameful and he should probably lose his job for it; but this is the reality for girls and women in sports.
From the time your daughter, or friend, or sister steps on a field or a court, someone will be there telling her she’ll never be as good as her male counterparts.
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