\u201cEwing Is Unlikely For All-Star Game.\u201d That was one headline atop Page 8 of Section 5 of the Feb. 9, 1986, edition of The New York Times.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understandable that New York Knicks rookie All-Star center Patrick Ewing nursing a right knee injury would lead a notes column about that weekend\u2019s premier event<\/a> in the paper of record. (Spoiler alert: Ewing didn\u2019t play in the Eastern Conference\u2019s 139-132 win over the West in Dallas.)<\/p>\n But what may be most interesting, considering what the event has become, is that column\u2019s third entry<\/a>, one that appeared after a brief recap of Saturday night\u2019s Old-Timers Game: the results of the first All-Star Weekend 3-point contest.<\/p>\n The Times used a brisk 141 words to describe the event and quote winner Larry Bird, who pocketed $10,000 as champ.<\/p>\n \u201dI\u2019m the king of the 3-point shooters,\u201d Bird said. \u201dI always thought it, and now I have proven it. I\u2019ve been pumped up for this for about a month. It was like a dare, because my teammates said I didn\u2019t have a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Larry Legend? Not having a chance? In anything shooting-related? That seems improbable for the, at the time, back-to-back MVP and one of the best shooters in the game\u2019s history.<\/p>\n But that goes to show how little people knew about the 3-point contest then. Created initially as a way to celebrate basketball, but also to lure once-reluctant sponsors to the NBA<\/a>, the concept, after 39 contests, is and remains simple: Sink as many of the 25 (now 27) shots as you can in one minute (now 70 seconds). Most points (one point for an NBA game ball, two for a red, white and blue \u201cmoney\u201d ball and now, three for the recent \u201clogo\u201d ball) wins.<\/p>\n It\u2019s about as pure as a contest can get. No judges, little judgment and a celebration of the unique skill that defines the game \u2014 shooting.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s field features two former champs, Devin Booker and Damian Lillard, who was a surprise addition because of the torn Achilles that has kept him out this season. The field also includes sharpshooting rookie Kon Knueppel and first-timers Jamal Murray, Bobby Portis and Tyrese Maxey, along with Donovan Mitchell and Norman Powell.<\/p>\n This year, the 3-point contest is first on the All-Star Saturday night docket. Let\u2019s see how The Athletic\u2019s panel of David Aldridge, Mirin Fader, Jason Jones and Damon Sayles feels about that.<\/p>\n Aldridge: I have always argued that the 3-point contest should be the last event of All-Star Saturday, rather than the dunk contest. The dunk contest is always \u2014 always \u2014 subject to the quality of the dunkers in any given year.<\/p>\n (You want to terrify Adam Silver? Sneak up behind him, whisper \u201cBirdman!\u201d<\/a> and run away.)<\/p>\n To be sure: Vince Carter<\/a> and Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin and Mac McClung and Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon, among many, have risen to the occasion. But there is sooooo much down time between dunks, and so often, the energy leaks out of the building before the final round, when it\u2019s obvious who\u2019s going to win. The 3-point contest, in contrast \u2026 sure, Steph Curry\u2019s won a couple, but Marco Belinelli and Joe Harris and James Jones have also won one.<\/p>\n Sayles: Until we see more marquee players, the dunk contest will just be another part of the night. The Shooting Stars contest seems to have taken over as the elite event, followed by the 3-point contest. Gone are the days of Carter putting on the greatest show we\u2019d never seen, or the greatest game of \u201cCan You Top This\u201d between Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon<\/a>.<\/p>\n We saw a pretty good dunk battle between Mac McClung and Stephon Castle last year \u2026 but it\u2019s hard to get excited about a group where the leading scorer this season is averaging roughly 6.5 points per game.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s helping or crippling the 3-point contest by putting it at the lead-off spot, but that first event has to set the tone for the energy of the arena. Saturday should be enough of a sample size to determine whether that\u2019s the appropriate move for next year.<\/p>\n As for this year, the dunk contest, though still the marquee event, is in dire need of a star-studded addition. LeBron James, at 41 years old, would bring something to the table. Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards or Zion Williamson would boost this contest. Until then, it is what it is \u2014 another rotational piece filling Saturday\u2019s All-Star weekend schedule.<\/p>\n In contrast, you have no idea who\u2019s going to win the 3-point contest. <\/p>\n Fader: I agree. I also love the focus of the shooters. You can tell everyone takes it seriously. It gives me even more appreciation for the shot, because it can be really hard to perform in that environment. There are also so many variables. The different ball. Grabbing the ball from the rack. You\u2019re in one spot. You have to be warmed up, in rhythm. You have to pace yourself, but you don\u2019t want to go too slow or too fast. I love that it gets super competitive and everyone\u2019s genuinely trying to win. And, you never know who is going to be extremely on \u2014 or extremely off. Maybe that\u2019s my favorite part: It\u2019s a wide-open shot, anybody\u2019s game.<\/p>\n Aldridge: I just remember Ray Allen in D.C. in 2001, and how pure his jumper looked coming out of his hand. It was like God invented the contest so we could all watch Ray shoot a basketball behind the line and in the corners. The only other guy who shot the ball so absolutely perfect, to me, was Dale Ellis. When Dale got on a heater, the net wouldn\u2019t move. It was like he dropped the ball straight down through the basket from a crane.<\/p>\n Jones: Until the stars, or at least rising stars, participate in the dunk contest, it will remain second to the 3-point contest. That\u2019s not how I want it to be, but the biggest stars in the game shoot the 3 and shoot it well. Plus, the dunk contest has become about props and sitting through missed dunks. It\u2019s a buzzkill most years. I don\u2019t love the focus on the shooters; I\u2019d rather see a great dunk contest. But I\u2019m also realistic: The shooters are the stars.<\/p>\n Sayles: No basketball expert, multimillion-dollar analyst, Magic 8-Ball or Zoltar machine can truly predict who\u2019s going to win the 3-point contest on Saturday. The field is as open as you\u2019re going to get. What I love is Portis really could get hot and win. It\u2019s not as far-fetched as some might assume. We\u2019ll get to see Lillard back on the court, if only for a few minutes. With every Knueppel bucket, we forget more and more that he\u2019s a rookie. And let\u2019s not forget players like Booker and Murray. Saturday will be all about one thing: Who\u2019s the most locked in?<\/p>\n When you talk about being locked in, we\u2019ve had two three-peat champions: Larry Bird and Craig Hodges. Bird, as we\u2019ve noted, won the first, then reeled off two more for a three-peat. How did Bird\u2019s bravado set the tone for the contest\u2019s competitive nature?<\/p>\n Fader: My favorite part about Bird being so hungry to win the contest is that he wasn\u2019t even really into shooting 3s. Part of him even hated them. They were, in his eyes, not what made basketball basketball.\u00a0<\/p>\n Threes were OK to be used in certain situations, but he was never thrilled about them. There was almost something gimmicky about it, less pure. Talk about a different era. Makes it even more ironic that then, he was part of the inaugural contest and went into the locker room and, in typical Bird bravado, asked his competitors: \u201cWho\u2019s coming in second?\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m working on a biography of Bird, and I got to interview Hodges, who remembers Bird going up to each player in the locker room and saying something about each one. \u201cYou already shot yourself out in warmups,\u201d Hodges recalled Bird saying to him. It was funny. But that\u2019s Bird. It didn\u2019t matter if it was a half-court competition or a competition to put on shoes or socks or anything; he always wanted to win everything. He had to win everything.<\/p>\n Also \u2026 how cool was it that he was in his warmup shirt? It would be really cool to see players of today do something throwback like that.<\/p>\n Aldridge: Larry came to not mind the 3. I interviewed him a few years ago, and he admitted maybe he was a little hard-headed, but knew that fans liked seeing the 3s. He was especially fond of Portland when Dame and C.J. McCollum had it rolling.<\/p>\n \u201cThe court don\u2019t look as small as it used to,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re using the 3-point line so much, it looks like a bigger court.<\/p>\n \u201cRemember when they used to talk about widening the lanes? But we didn\u2019t. We brought in guys who could shoot the 3-ball. And you don\u2019t hear the talk any more. But I do, I really like it. I think it\u2019s only going to get better. Look at the last 10 years and the jump that we\u2019ve made. What\u2019s going to be (in) the next 10 years? I\u2019m a fan of it, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones: Bird was the perfect person to win the contest. His shooting style was easygoing. It didn\u2019t even look like the contest was a challenge. Bird looked so nonchalant in winning, almost as if to say \u201cWho added this to the weekend?\u201d<\/p>\n The 3-point shot wasn\u2019t nearly as big then as it was now, and Bird\u2019s vibe was \u201cI\u2019ll shoot a bunch of these since you asked.\u201d It\u2019s not that Bird couldn\u2019t make a lot of 3s, he just didn\u2019t have to shoot a lot of them in his day.<\/p>\n Sayles: Let\u2019s flash back. I mean, you\u2019ve gotta love the confidence. Saying, \u201cWho\u2019s coming in second\u201d to a group of sharpshooters like Hodges, Ellis and Trent Tucker \u2014 and then following through with the win in Dallas \u2014 was a flex. Saying it to the hometown choice, Ellis, a guard for the Dallas Mavericks, just added to it. Granted, Ellis wasn\u2019t yet the marquee shooter he was when he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics the following year, but Reunion Arena fans hoped he would walk away as champion.<\/p>\n