Every year, the All-Star break and its iconic line of basketball activities strives to bring the NBA community a truly thrilling atmosphere, as well as an overflow of enjoyable content for fans to watch their favorite basketball players take part in. During the break, the selected players participate in a large series of competitions and games. In addition to the All-Star game itself, the Rising Stars game that features the younger talents of the league, and the infamous Dunk Contest, there is an annual competition that I have always enjoyed more than any other: the 3-Point Contest.

How Does the 3-Point Contest Work?

The 3-Point Contest is a competition held for entertainment purposes that places a spotlight on some of the NBA’s best shooters. These shooting specialists compete with the hopes of being crowned the 3-Point champion at the end of the night. The competition starts off with an initial round, within which all contest participants take part, aiming to achieve a score that lands them in the top three. These three best performers from the initial round qualify to the final round, where they shoot-off again to determine who is the best amongst them.

The initial round and the final round occur following the same format. The shooter attempts to take 27 shots within a 70 second time frame. The player attempts five shots from five different spots respectively (left corner, right corner, left wing, right wing, and top of the key). From four of the spots, the players get four normal balls (worth 1 point if scored) and one money ball (worth 2 points if scored). However, each player gets to select one of the five spots to hold their “money rack”, which contains five money balls (worth 2 points each if scored).

This allows some tactical selection on the participants’ part, as they can place their money rack in the spot they feel most confident in making their shots. These five racks make up 25 of the 27 shots that the players can attempt. The remaining two are shots placed on either side of the middle rack (top of the key), from a spot that is even further away from the hoop. These deep-range shots are worth 3 points each if scored, and were referred to as shots from “Starry Range'' in this year’s competition. Players must shoot relatively quickly and battle their fatigue if they wish to get all 27 shots up before the clock runs out, and hopefully score enough of them to compete with the other top-level shooters taking part.

2024's Thrilling 3-Point Contest

Some years the competition can feel quite underwhelming, but this year’s 3-Point Contest was one I’d describe as genuinely entertaining. The participants ranged from younger stars such as Tyrese Haliburton and Trae Young, to more veteran shooters such as two of the competition’s former champions in Damian Lillard and Karl-Anthony Towns. The contest was very intense, with four different participants tying for first place in the first round. 

2024 3-Point Contest Participants - image obtained via the NBA Communications account on X.
2024 3-Point Contest Participants - image obtained via the NBA Communications account on X.

The first round performance results were as follows (in order of attempt):

The four individuals who scored 26 in the first round proceeded to a tie breaker round, in which Tyrese Haliburton was eliminated. Therefore, Karl-Anthony Towns,, Trae Young, and Damian Lillard moved on to the final as the top 3 contestants from the initial round. The final was quite close. Ice Trae and KAT tried making some noise during their turns, but ultimately Lillard walked up to the spot and finished his final round with 26 points, sending the others home packing. The reigning 3-Point Contest champion walked away in true Dame-Time fashion, hitting the last shot on his final rack to beat Trae Young out for the hardware. Damian Lillard is widely recognized as one of the greatest 3-point shooters of all time, so watching him take part in a competition that revolves around his largest strength was amusing to say the least.

I love All-Star weekend because us fans get to witness these superstars coming together to enjoy each other’s greatness, and have some more lighthearted fun with one another before returning to continue the regular season and battle it out on a nightly basis. The events and the entire experience are simply a much-needed break from the overly competitive mentality we normally idolize, and an opportunity for players to build long-lasting relationships with their fans and also other players that they normally do not engage with throughout the season.