Allisha Gray First WNBA Player to Win 3-Point Contest, Skills Challenge in Same Year

Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray became the first WNBA player to win both the 3-point contest and skills challenge in the same year on Friday night in Phoenix. Her prize was almost the equivalent of her annual salary.

Allisha Gray won $5,150 from the WNBA and $110,000 from Aflac for winning the 3-point contest and skills challenge

Gray, 29, won $5,150 from the WNBA and $110,000 from Aflac. The insurance company announced Thursday that it would supplement the league’s prize money with $55,000 for each event’s winner. Gray’s yearly salary is $185,000.

“It feels amazing, and knowing I’ve got $55,000 dollars in my pocket is nice,” Gray said of making history.

She also plans to take her Dream teammates out for an expensive dinner, but there’s a catch. “For my team, yeah, they gotta plan it,” Gray added. “I’ll just pay the bill.”

Gray went first in the 3-point finals and scored 22 points. However, another contestant kept it close. Fellow finalist Jonquel Jones of the New York Liberty had to make her last shot, a money ball, which would have given her the win by a point.

In the end, Jones’ shot bounced off the rim, giving Gray the title with a final score 22-21. Jones led all shooters in the opening round with 25, followed by Gray (23), Kayla McBride (21), Stefanie Dolson (20), and Marina Mabrey (19).

“I was nervous because she went on a shooting streak,” Gray said. “J.J.’s a great 3-point shooter. I even told her before, I was like, ‘I’m familiar with your shooting game. I know you finna go out there and kill it.’

“But when she got to that last one and the score was kind of close and she missed it, it was like sigh relief because she’s a great shooter.”

Gray became the third WNBA player to win both titles, joining Becky Hammon and Sabrina Ionescu

Although Gray is the first WNBA player to win both events in the same year, she is the third to win both events overall. She joins Becky Hammon, who won the skills challenge in 2007 and 3-point contest in 2009, and Sabrina Ionescu, who won the skills in 2022 and 3-point in 2023.

In the skills challenge, Gray defeated Phoenix Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham in the final round of the five-player competition with a time of 32.1 seconds to Cunningham’s 34.5 seconds.

In the first round, Gray and Cunningham beat out Mabrey, who finished in 35.7 seconds, Mercury center Brittney Griner, whose time was 46.3 seconds, and Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell, who was disqualified after not finishing the course in time.

The skills challenge tests players in the three key areas of basketball: passing, dribbling, and shooting.

The competition requires each player to throw three bounce passes into a net, throw a chest pass into a net, shoot a 3-pointer from the top of the key, shoot a shot from the elbow, shoot a 3 from the corner over a windmill, complete a chest pass, and make a layup.