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Caitlin Clark will not participate in Friday's 3-point contest during WNBA All-Star weekend in Chicago, the league confirmed Tuesday, after Clark was among several notable players who declined invitations to the event.
According to ESPN's Alexa Philippou, Clark turned down the invitation alongside New York's Sabrina Ionescu, last year's champion, and Minnesota's Kayla McBride, who also competed in 2025.
No specific reason was given for any of their decisions, and it is not uncommon for All-Stars to skip the standalone events surrounding the main game. Clark is still set to start in Friday's All-Star Game itself, despite a notable disparity in voting between fans, media, and players.
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The six-player field for the 3-point contest will instead include Dallas rookie Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, along with Atlanta's Rhyne Howard, Toronto's Marina Mabrey, Portland's Bridget Carleton, Seattle's Natisha Hiedeman and Golden State's Janelle Salaun.
Fudd will look to become just the fourth rookie in league history to compete in the event and the first to win it.
Mabrey enters as the league's leader in made three-pointers this season with 82, having also tied the WNBA's single-game scoring record earlier this year with 53 points.
Clark's decision to sit out comes during a stretch in which she has continued to draw scrutiny over officiating, most recently picking up her sixth technical foul of the season just 91 seconds into Saturday's game against the New York Liberty.
The technical, which carries a $1,000 fine under WNBA rules, came after Clark grew frustrated following a non-call on a screen set by Jonquel Jones.
Under league policy, a player's eighth technical foul of the season triggers an automatic one-game suspension, meaning Clark now sits two technicals away from that threshold with much of the regular season still remaining and a suspension at some stage likely looming.
That early frustration came just a day after one of the most dominant individual performances in league history. Clark scored a career-high 45 points on 11-of-18 shooting in Friday's 110-107 win over Seattle, becoming the first player in WNBA history to record at least 40 points and 10 assists in a single game, while also setting a new league record for fastest player to reach 200 career three-pointers.
Clark has continued to manage a back issue that has limited her minutes over recent weeks, and she entered Saturday's game on a minutes restriction, as did teammate Aliyah Boston, who has been dealing with her own injury.
Despite the restriction, Clark indicated she planned to finish games down the stretch if needed, similar to how she closed out Friday's win with a go-ahead three-pointer in the final minute.
Whether her recent shooting struggles, she is hitting just over 33% from three this season, played any role in her decision to skip the shootout is unclear, though her production against Seattle, including six threes on 10 attempts, suggested her form may be trending upward heading into the break.
