NBA All-Star Weekend Three-Point Shootout

NBA All-Star Weekend Three-Point Shootout

The Three-Point Shootout (officially named the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout) is a National Basketball Association (NBA) contest held on the Saturday before the annual All-Star Game as part of the All-Star Weekend. In this contest, participants attempt to make as many three-point field goals as possible from five positions behind the three-point arc. Players begin shooting from one corner of the court, and move from station to station along the three point arc until they reach the other corner. At each shooting station is a rack with five basketballs. Out of the five balls, four are worth one point (the standard orange Spalding game balls) and the fifth one (a red/white/blue ABA-style ball; often nicknamed the money ball) is worth two points. The goal of this contest is to score as many points as possible under the one minute mark. The perfect score is 30 points.

In the qualifying round, each player has a chance to score as many points as possible. The three players with the top scores advance to the finals. The final round is played in the same way as the qualifying round, though players shoot according to the ascending order of their first-round scores. In each round, the shots and the score are confirmed by the referee and the television instant replay system. In the case of a tie, additional rounds are played to determine the winner. Contestants compete for a total of $86,000 in prize money. The first-place winner receives $35,000, the second-place finisher receives $22,500 and the third place winner receives $15,000. Fourth- to sixth-place finishers receive $4,500 each. From 1986 to 2002, eight participants were selected to participate in each season's shootout. Since then, the contest has been open to six players each season. The Three-Point Shootout was not held in 1999 due to the league's lockout.

Larry Bird, the inaugural winner of this contest, and Craig Hodges have each won three straight times, while Mark Price, Jeff Hornacek, Peja Stojaković and Jason Kapono have each won two consecutive times. Hodges and Kapono are tied for the scoring record with 25 points. Hodges also holds the record for making 19 consecutive shots (which were not made in his 25-point round). Michael Jordan holds the distinction of having the lowest score ever; he scored 5 points in the 1990 competition. Minnesota Timberwolves player Kevin Love, who won the contest in the 2011–12 season, is the defending champion.