SAN FRANCISCO — What is the NBA desperately looking for in All-Star weekend? Star power and actual competition.
The only thing that has consistently delivered that over the last decade or so is the 3-Point Contest, which is set to be the highlight of the weekend again in 2025.
Here is everything you need to know about the 2025 All-Star 3-Point Contest.
When is the 3-Point Contest?
The 3-Point Contest is part of the All-Star Saturday Night, which will take place on Feb. 15. This year’s event will be held at the Chase Center in San Francisco, home to the Golden State Warriors. It will be broadcast on TNT starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Who is competing in the 3-Point Contest?
This year’s 3-Point Contest is stacked.
Let’s break down this year’s competitors using their 3-point shooting percentage from this season:
• Norman Powell (Clippers): 43.1%
• Darius Garland (Cavaliers) 42.9%
• Cameron Johnson (Nets): 41.7%
• Jalen Brunson (Knicks): 39.7%
• Tyler Herro (Heat): 39.3%
• Damian Lillard (Bucks): 37.9%
• Buddy Hield (Warriors): 37.1%
• Cade Cunningham (Pistons): 35.4%
Who won the NBA 3-Point Contest last year?
Damian Lillard, who has won the last two 3-Point contests and is looking to join Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only people to win the contest three years in a row.
Is there going to be another Curry vs. Ionescu shootout?
No. Which sucks, it was the highlight of All-Star weekend a year ago in Indianapolis.
Here is what NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement: “We weren’t able to land on a plan we thought would raise the bar off of last year’s special moment. We all agreed not to proceed and will instead keep the focus on All-Star Sunday’s new format.”
Curry and Ionescu didn’t just want a rematch, they wanted to expand and grow the event. In the minds of the NBA league office, that meant Curry and former teammate Klay Thomson vs. Ionescu and wildly popular WNBA star Caitlin Clark. Except Clark didn’t want to do it, saying through her representatives at Excel Sports, “Caitlin will not be at NBA All-Star. She wants her first three-point contest to be at WNBA All-Star in Indianapolis this summer.”
With that, the event fell apart.
How does the NBA 3-Point Contest work?
The format remains unchanged from the previous few years.
The 3-Point Contest takes place across two rounds. All eight shooters get a turn in the first round: Players get 70 seconds to shoot as many of the 27 balls as they can before time runs out. Those balls are in racks spaced out in five spots around the 3-point line (two in the corners, two on the wing, one straight on), plus there are two “Starry Range” deep shots.
Four of the balls in four of the racks are regular NBA basketballs — make the 3 and it counts for one point — but one ball in each rack is a multi-colored “money ball” that counts for two points. One rack is filled with five money balls, and the shooter gets to determine where that rack sits on the arc. The “Starry Balls” count for 3.
The three players with the highest scores in the first round advance to the second round — with the same ball placement and value — and the second-round winner wins the 3-Point Contest.
Last year, the highest score in any round was 26 (which is also what Sabrina Ionescu scored in her shootout with Curry).
How many money balls do you get in the NBA 3-Point Contest?
There are nine two-point money balls in each round, one at the end of four racks, and one five-ball rack of nothing but money balls. There are also two “Starry Range” balls from deep that count for 3 points.
Who has won the most NBA 3-Point Contests all time?
Larry Bird won the first three 3-point contests the league ever put on, famously walking into the locker room before one of those games and announcing, “Which one of you is coming in second.”
Craig Hodges, one of the sharpshooters spacing the floor around Michael Jordan’s Bulls, also won the 3-Point contest three consecutive years.
Damian Lillard is looking to join that group.
NBA 3-Point Contest past winners
Here’s every winner of the 3-Point Contest in the last 25 years.
2024: Damian Lillard (Bucks)
2023: Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
2022: Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves)
2021: Stephen Curry (Warriors)
2020: Buddy Hield (Kings)
2019: Joe Harris (Nets)
2018: Devin Booker (Suns)
2017: Eric Gordon (Rockets)
2016: Klay Thompson (Warriors)
2015: Stephen Curry (Warriors)
2014: Marco Belinelli (Spurs)
2013: Kyrie Irving (Cavaliers)
2012: Kevin Love (Timberwolves)
2011: James Jones (Heat)
2010: Paul Pierce (Celtics)=
2009: Daequan Cook (Heat)
2008: Jason Kapono (Raptors)
2007: Jason Kapono (Raptors)
2006: Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks)
2005: Quentin Richardson (Suns)
2004: Voshon Lenard (Nuggets)
2003: Peja Stojakovic (Kings)
2002: Peja Stojakovic (Kings)
2001: Ray Allen (Bucks)
2000: Jeff Hornacek (Jazz)
