Gamecock women's basketball alumnus Allisha Gray makes history during WNBA All-Star weekend
Each season, the WNBA All-Star Weekend showcases the best the league has to offer — and this year, South Carolina players featured prominently in the festivities.
Both A’ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston both played in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game, which was slightly different than past editions. With the Summer Olympics around the corner, Team USA took on Team WNBA instead of the All-Star Game’s typical East-West format.
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Another former Gamecock, Allisha Gray, was also selected to compete for Team WNBA in the game. But her lasting mark on the weekend came during its ancillary competitions, the 3-Point Contest and the Skills Challenge. On Saturday, Gray became the first player in league history to take home both titles in the same season.
Gray first claimed her crown in the Skills Challenge in a matchup against Phoenix Mercury guard Sophia Cunningham. Gray’s time of 32.1 seconds narrowly edged that of Cunningham, which was 34.5 seconds.
Later in the night, Gray met New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones in the final round of the 3-Point Contest. Gray narrowly defeated Jones 22-21 to take home her second title of the evening.
After both events, Gray said she was grateful to be part of such a historic moment.
“The viewership is definitely up in the W. It was amazing to see how many people were here for the Skills Challenge, the 3-Point (Contest) — even the 3×3 exhibition game, as well,” Gray said. “It’s very cool. That made me very happy.”
Two trophies were not the only rewards Gray earned on Saturday night, though. By winning both the 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge, she picked up a six-figure sum of money, too.
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According to a post by Her Hoops Stats on X, formerly known as Twitter, Gray earned a combined $115,150 from the WNBA and Aflac. Aflac offered $55,000 to the winner of each competition, while the WNBA offered $2,575.
In addition to her $185,000 base salary she will earn through her contract with the Atlanta Dream, Gray’s total earnings on the season will surpass $300,000 — and amount to $300,150, to be exact. This amount is more than $60,000 more than a player’s salary on a supermax deal, which is $234,936.
Gray said her earnings from both competitions could be used to help open her own business.
“With $110,000, I definitely can invest my money,” Gray said. “I’m definitely excited to do that.”
She added that it could also be spent on a dinner with her Dream teammates.
“Dinner’s on me. I got them. They just have to let me know early… because I’m still a very cheap person,” Gray said. “They have to plan it. I’ll just play the bill.”
