When one of the biggest stars in the WNBA says she wants the league’s own 3-point contest to be her first go at the event, it pays to make it worth players’ time.
Reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year and 3-point leader Caitlin Clark faced speculation about her potential involvement in the 3-point contest at NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco back in February. When asked about it, Clark’s representatives at Excel Sports Management denied the claim, telling The Athletic in a statement that “she wants her first 3-point contest to be at WNBA All-Star in Indianapolis this summer.”
When she steps to the line in July, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) players’ union and supplemental insurance company Aflac are going to make sure that she (or anyone else who wins the competition) is paid as much for it as their NBA counterparts. Aflac is kicking in $115,000 to boost the prize pool for both the 3-point contest and the All-Star skills challenge.
Aflac is giving an extra $60,000 to the winner of the 3-point contest, with the skills challenge winner taking another $55,000. Based on the league’s 2020 collective bargaining agreement, which players just opted out of in 2020, the WNBA itself provides the winners of both competitions $2,575 each.
“Aflac stands with our players when it matters most, sending a powerful message: They are seen, they are valued, and they are worth investing in,” said Terri Jackson, executive director of the WNBPA. “As an official partner now in year two, Aflac’s continued commitment creates a ripple effect—lifting not just the women in those pivotal moments, but the entire women’s sports industry.”
The power of 3
When the company first teamed with the WNBPA on the All-Star prize pool last year, it ended up giving all $110,000 of its contribution to the Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray—the first player to win both contests in one night. That prize money also gave Gray the equivalent of 62% of her $185,000 WNBA salary within the same evening, which Aflac, the WNBPA, and University of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley were pleased to call out while giving Gray and her oversized checks a cameo in a recent ad.