Azzi Fudd is first rookie to win WNBA 3-point contest
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- Azzi Fudd became the first rookie in WNBA history to win the All-Star 3-point contest, scoring 30 of a possible 40 points in the final to beat Portland Fire forward Bridget Carleton (19), missing just 6 of 27 shots.
- Fudd, the 2026 No. 1 overall draft pick, credited her stationary, repeatable shooting form to years of chair and rehab work following a torn right ACL and meniscus in November 2023 and a separate right knee injury during her 2022-23 sophomore year.
- Team Washington — WNBA Hall of Famer Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics forward Shakira Austin and Nike EYBL player Jezelle "GiGi" Banks — won the league's inaugural Shooting Stars competition, which replaced the long-standing skills challenge.
- The Shooting Stars format featured four three-person teams spanning generations (legend, current player, up-and-coming), each shooting from seven spots worth two, three or four points in 70 seconds; Team Washington beat Team Seattle (Lauren Jackson, Flau'jae Johnson, Tatianna Griffin) in the final.
- Fudd earned $70,000 for the 3-point win — $30,000 of it guaranteed under the new CBA — compared to Sabrina Ionescu's $2,575 union prize from last year's contest, a roughly 27-fold jump.
- Team Washington's three members each received $22,500 and split an additional $85,000 prize pool for the Shooting Stars victory, signaling a broader CBA-era bump in All-Star weekend purses.
Why it matters: Fudd's win validates the Wings' choice of the No. 1 pick in a draft class now headlining the league's marquee weekend, while the prize-money jump — from Ionescu's $2,575 union check last year to Fudd's $70,000, anchored by $30,000 in new CBA guarantees — shows All-Star competitions are now paying at a fundamentally different scale.
