Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd made history at WNBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago, becoming the first rookie ever to win the league's 3-point shootout. She edged the Chicago Fire's Bridget Carleton to claim the title, according to ESPN.
The win came during a weekend that has grown dramatically in scale and visibility over recent years. Two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne, who came out of retirement to participate in the WNBA Shooting Stars competition Friday night, described the transformation firsthand. "This All-Star looks a little bit different than the first one," she said after her team won the inaugural event. "My first one, it was almost like just like pulling up for a scrimmage and leaving. Now it's like a whole weekend, and everybody is getting celebrated the way they should. It's a place everybody wants to be to show up and have fun together."
Delle Donne made her first of seven All-Star Games back in 2013. Much of the growth in the event since then has taken place under WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who took over as the league's first commissioner on July 17, 2019. Prior to her hiring, the league had only had presidents.
The backdrop to this year's All-Star Weekend, however, has not been entirely celebratory. According to a report by CBS Sports, the weeks leading up to the event were marked by missteps and miscommunications between the league's front office and its players. One of the central questions hanging over media day Friday was whether Engelbert should remain in her role.
WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike expressed sympathy for Engelbert and said it was not her place to decide whether the commissioner should stay. Still, the tension was visible.
This is not the first time All-Star Weekend has been overshadowed by conflict. Last season, players took the court before the All-Star Game wearing shirts that read "Pay Us What You Owe Us," signaling frustration that Engelbert and WNBA owners were not taking them seriously during then-upcoming CBA negotiations. This spring, the league and union signed a new CBA that saw player salaries increase by almost 400%.
The league itself has grown from what CBS Sports described as a budget-sheet afterthought into a billion-dollar operation. NBA owners are now competing to pay upward of $250 million to launch the next expansion team. This season marks the WNBA's 30th anniversary.
Against all of that backdrop, Fudd's win in the 3-point contest stood as one of the cleaner storylines of the weekend. No rookie had ever won the event before.
