Two-time champion Damian Lillard leads the field in NBA’s three-point shooting competition.
Damian Lillard is set to don his Portland jersey once more, in a rather surprising fashion.
Lillard — who has yet to play this season due to recovery from a torn Achilles tendon — will take part in the 3-point contest on All-Star Saturday, as announced by the NBA.
Lillard will compete alongside 2018 3-point contest champion Devin Booker from the Phoenix Suns, as well as Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Denver’s Jamal Murray, Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis Jr., and Miami’s Norman Powell.
If Lillard secures a victory, he would become one of only three players, alongside Larry Bird and Craig Hodges, to win the event three times, which is set to take place at the LA Clippers’ venue in Inglewood, California.
In a departure from tradition, the 3-point contest will commence All-Star Saturday, followed by the return of the Shooting Stars competition, and then the dunk contest. The skills competition will not be included this year.
This will mark Lillard’s first opportunity to play — or at least shoot — in front of fans since he rejoined Portland at the start of this season. Lillard sustained his injury last spring while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, who subsequently waived and stretched the remaining $113 million on his contract, allowing him to become a free agent and return to his original NBA team.
He is not the first participant in the 3-point contest to have not made a 3-pointer during that season: In the 1989 contest, the NBA invited Rimas Kurtinaitis from Lithuania to compete. Kurtinaitis never played in the NBA.
Lillard was selected as the sixth pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Trail Blazers and spent 11 seasons with Portland before being traded to Milwaukee just prior to the 2023-24 season. Lillard claimed back-to-back 3-point contest titles in 2023 and 2024, before Miami’s Tyler Herro — who has been sidelined for most of this season due to injuries — won the event last year.
Herro is not among the 3-point participants this year.
