"Started to feel forced" - Adam Silver gets honest after Caitlin Clark and $55,761,216 star-led 3-point contest falls apart

The 2025 NBA All-Star Saturday night ended without the highly anticipated 3-point contest showdown, including Caitlin Clark, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Sabrin Ionescu. After the 2024 All-Star's superhit event between Curry and Ionescu, the Adam Silver-led league attempted to recruit the Indiana Fever star, with the Golden State Warriors hosting the 2025 All-Star weekend.

Amid the NBA's ratings slump, this move could have shattered records because of Clark's popularity and the velocity of the cross-league matchup between four elite 3-point specialists in the men's and women's leagues.

However, Caitlin Clark declined the offer. Her representatives indicated that the Fever superstar would participate in her first 3-point contest during the WNBA's All-Star weekend in Indiana this season.

With this plan failing, NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the 3-point contest not coming to fruition this year during his press conference on Saturday, and the league not running it with just $55,761,216 Warriors star Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu again.

"Last year was so magical, that competition, that it started to feel forced," Silver said (h/t Indiana Fever reporter Scott Agness).

"I think there was concern from all of us that we just weren’t feeling it, that we were at the point where it felt like we were — even though I had been public, I had said that I was very hopeful or said it was going to happen again. … It just got to the point where I don’t know how to say it other than we just weren’t collectively feeling it."

It made sense not to go through with it, especially with the NBA not being able to provide an upgrade on that year's classic. Running it back would have made the idea old and overused, especially with fans already seeing it once.

However, the only drawback to this was Steph Curry not participating in the usual 3-point contest. It deprived home fans of a blitz from the former two-time winner, who could have had a battle with Damian Lillard, also chasing his third award. Tyler Herro ultimately won the contest after Lillard bowed out in the first round.

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Caitlin Clark faces backlash from popular NBA radio host over 3-point contest snub

Caitlin Clark made a bold choice by declining the NBA's offer and standing her ground to ensure her first-ever 3-point contest happened in the WNBA in front of her team's fans in Indiana. However, that decision didn't sit well with NBA radio host, Rob Parker.

"How can she say no when the WNBA wouldn’t even be around if it wasn’t for the NBA? They have subsidized that league forever. Ratings this year, right? Guess how much money the WNBA lost this past year — $50 million."

Parker also claimed that Caitlin Clark "ruined" the NBA All-Star weekend for him. He vehemently made a case that Clark should have made a better effort to help the men's league amid its ratings slump.

However, Clark chose to go the opposite direction for a reason many believe was viable, considering her aim to give the WNBA the same status as the NBA and ensure the league grows, too.