Behind the NBA Three Point Contest: Increasingly on the mark
As I alluded to the other day, the NBA is getting better at selecting participants for the 3PT shootout. I’ve taken a look at the three point shooting of all the competitors since 1999-2000. I looked at both pre-All-Star shooting within the season the participant was selected, as well as the career three-point shooting (including that season’s pre-All-Star numbers) of the participants prior to participating in the contest. First up: three-point shooting percentages.
The in-season 3PT% has not really changed over the last 14 years, but the career 3PT% has improved. The increase can’t be fully explained by improved 3PT% across the entire league either. It looks like the players invited to participate have hit a greater percentage of threes in their careers.
In-season three-point win score (determined by the forumla 3PM * 3 – 3PA) and career three-point win score are also on the rise (excluding last year’s lockout shortened season, of course). Here’s the data:
| Year | Av. Season 3P% | Av. Season 3PTWS | Av. Career 3P% | Av. Career 3PTWS |
| 2000 | 41.0% | 35.8 | 36.4% | 170.3 |
| 2001 | 41.3% | 40.6 | 38.7% | 155.6 |
| 2002 | 43.4% | 64.9 | 39.0% | 233.6 |
| 2003 | 41.5% | 45.8 | 39.0% | 304.2 |
| 2004 | 40.8% | 55.8 | 38.7% | 223.0 |
| 2005 | 38.8% | 50.2 | 37.9% | 235.7 |
| 2006 | 39.0% | 46.3 | 37.5% | 334.5 |
| 2007 | 42.9% | 62.0 | 39.7% | 319.0 |
| 2008 | 44.9% | 65.8 | 41.2% | 374.2 |
| 2009 | 41.8% | 68.2 | 39.0% | 269.7 |
| 2010 | 41.0% | 55.3 | 39.4% | 239.7 |
| 2011 | 40.8% | 53.8 | 38.8% | 400.0 |
| 2012 | 41.5% | 22.5 | 38.6% | 156.7 |
| 2013 | 42.6% | 65.3 | 41.1% | 254.0 |
I can also report some interesting findings:
- The player with the worst in-season 3PT% was Dirk Nowitzki in 2008 (29.1%). Nowitzki also had the worst in-season mark as measured by 3PTWS (-18).
- The winner with the worst in-season 3PT% was Kevin Love in 2012 (34.8%). Love also had the worst in-season 3PTWS of any winner (+6)
- The player with the best in-season 3PT% was Jason Kapono in 2007 (56.0%). He is also the winner with the highest 3PT%.
- The player with the lowest career 3PT% at the time of participation was Mike Bibby in 2000 (30.7%).
- The winner with the lowest career 3PT% was Daequan Cook in 2009 (33.2%). He is also the winner with the lowest career 3PTWS (-1).
- The player with the highest career 3PT% at the time of participation was Jason Kapono in 2007 (46.9%). Kapono also has the next two best marks as well.
- The player with the highest in-season 3PTWS was Peja Stojakovic in 2008 (+126). But Stojakovic lost to Jason Kapono that year.
- The player with the lowest career 3PTWS was Allen Iverson in 2000 (-32).
- The player with the highest career 3PTWS was Ray Allen in 2011 (+1254). This isn’t entirely surprising, as Allen holds the record for the most three-pointers made in a career and has shot over 40% on three-pointers.
- The year with the largest “star power” — that is the year with the highest average career 3PTWS — was 2011. This number was largely skewed by Ray Allen (+1254), but Paul Pierce (+455), Daniel Gibson (+287) and James Jones (+259) were not exactly slouches either.
- 2008 had the next biggest star power, with Steve Nash (+797), Peja Stojakovic (+715), Dirk Nowitzki (+336), Jason Kapono (+241), Daniel Gibson (+122), and Richard Hamilton (+34) all participating.
- The year with the worst career 3PTWS was 2001, when Ray Allen (+271), Bryon Russell (+149), Steve Nash (+142), Pat Garrity (+92), Peja Stojakovic (+64), Rashard Lewis (+37), and Dirk Nowitzki (+37) participated.
- The year with the 2nd worst career 3PTWS was 2012, when James Jones (+295), Anthony Morrow (+292), Ryan Anderson (+136), Kevin Durant (+102), Mario Chalmers (+70), and Kevin Love (+45) participated.
Hope you enjoyed it! Maybe one day I’ll go through the entire history of the competition.
– Devin