The NBA 3-point contest has recently become the main attraction on the All-Star Saturday schedule. It is the one contest that carries a certain amount of prestige that NBA stars have continued participating in. This year is no different with superstars like Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum and Julius Randle taking part. The format is simple. Each contestant has 70 seconds to knock down shots from 5 racks. Each rack contains at least one “money” ball worth double points. The contestants get to choose where to place their “money” ball rack before the contest too. There are also 2 shots in each round from deep 3-point range worth 3-points each. The 3 top scores from the opening round advance to the Championship round and do it all once again.
Now lets take a deeper look at the favourites this year and my pick to lift the trophy at the end of it all.
Buddy Hield has won this contest before and is rightfully one of the favourites to win it once more in 2023. He leads the NBA in 3-pointers made this season, shooting at a 42.6% clip from beyond the arc. He is however a better shooter in pull up situations this year percentage wise. With no dribbling in the contest, he is not fully playing to his strengths. He has shot below his season average in terms of percentage in 3 of his last 4 games before the break. With him not being in the best form, we may see a repeat of his 2019 performance. He only managed to finish 3rd in that year. The Insiana Pacers guard can be a streaky shooter, and recent form does suggest he could struggle putting together 2 strong rounds.
Portland Trail Blazers guard will be competing in his 3rd contest, having previously done so in 2014 and 2019. He failed to reach a score of 20 or more in each, failing to make the Championship Round in either. It could be a classic case of him being a better scorer than shooter. He does make only 36.5% of his catch and shoots this season. While he may be better suited to make deep 3-point shot than most in the field, since he tends to take it in games, it may not be enough to compensate for historically poor performances from him in this competition.