Mercury’s Sophie Cunningham, Brittney Griner to both compete in 2024 WNBA Skills Challenge

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2024 will feature the best of the best women’s basketball players in a showcase that will display just how talented and skilled the league is in a two-day, competitive extravaganza.

The Kia WNBA Skills Challenge, WNBA STARRY 3-Point Contest and an exhibition between the 2024 USA Basketball 3×3 Women’s National Team and the USA Basketball 3×3 U23 National Team will take place Friday before the WNBA All-Star Game commences on Saturday.

In the skills challenge in particular, it will see an array of different obstacles and goals that will put five players who will compete for the fastest time.

“The five contestants in the Kia WNBA Skills Challenge will compete in an obstacle course that tests a variety of basketball skills: dribbling, bounce pass, chest pass and outlet pass, in addition to shots including an elbow jumper and three-pointers from atop the arc and the corner,” a press release said. “Among the obstacles positioned along the course will be a 2025 Kia Sorento Turbo-Hybrid. The players will compete against one another to post the fastest time when running the course. The two players with the fastest times in the First Round will advance to the Final Round.”

While Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream), Marina Mabrey (Connecticut Sun) and Erica Wheeler (Indiana Fever) are all going to see what they got in this skills course, two Phoenix Mercury are set to do the same and could end up going head-to-head against one another: Brittney Griner and Sophie Cunningham.

Representing the hometown Mercury who are hosting All-Star 2024, Griner will look to put on a star-studded performance as she is also on Team USA in the All-Star Game before heading to the Olympics in Paris. Since coming back from a toe fracture on her left foot and missing the first 10 games of the season, the 6-foot-9 center is going to play in her ninth All-Star Game as she is averaging 18.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists.

It will be interesting to see how quick Griner can complete this obstacle course considering it requires speed and 3-point shooting. Not known for being a high volume shooter from deep, she has been attempting more threes as of recently which could bode well in this event.

Going up against her Mercury teammate, Cunningham’s could be a favorite considering her all-around game makes her a perfect candidate for this kind of competition. Though she has come off the bench more times than starting, the Mizzou product has 8.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game across all 25 Mercury games so far this season. She is shooting at a 39.2% clip from three and isn’t afraid of being a playmaker, two skillsets that will be utilzed when chasing the quickest time.

The skills competition, 3-point contest and 3×3 exhibition will all be on Friday inside Footprint Center and will be broadcasted by ESPN starting at 6 p.m. PT.