NBA’s Three-Point Shooting Contest
Is a Longshot Best at Long Shots?
Stars like Stephen Curry and Devin Booker have turned the NBA’s Three-Point Contest into the premier event of All-Star Saturday Night. Neither will be participating this time, so there’s a new champion in the making The NBA betting odds have it wide open, with a chance a longshot wins this event.

Three-Point Contest Participant Notable Stats
- Highest 3P%: Luke Kennard (43 percent)
- Most 3P Made: Fred VanVleet (197)
- Most 3P Attempted: Fred VanVleet (492)
- Most Experience: CJ McCollum and Zach LaVine (3)
The Favorites
Toronto’s Fred VanVleet and Atlanta’s Trae Young are tied with the shortest odds (+450 each) at winning this contest followed closely by the L.A. Clippers’ Luke Kennard (+500), Chicago’s Zach LaVine and Memphis’ Desmond Bane (+550 each). Despite being co-favored, this will be VanVleet’s first participation, while Young finished last in 2020.
Kennard and Bane are also first-timers, with LaVine back for the third time. He competed last year and in 2019, but didn/’t make it past the first round. Of these five favorites, we have our eye on LaVine, as his previous experience could prove invaluable for betting online.
Five of the previous seven winners had previous experience in the contest. It took Stephen Curry four tries before he finally won. Past winners (Mark Price and Dirk Nowitzki) also needed three appearances to capture their titles.
Another thing going for LaVine is his dead-eye accuracy from the corners. He leads the field at 58.7 percent, with VanVleet being a distant second at 44.4 percent. LaVine is hurt, however, and as of Monday, may not participate. If he is good to go, though, he’s the best bet at this price.
Pick: Zach LaVine +550
ROT | 2022 MTN DEW 3-Point Contest Winner | Moneyline |
2011 | Fred VanVleet | +450 |
2012 | Trae Young | +450 |
2013 | Luke Kennard | +500 |
2014 | Zach Lavine | +550 |
2015 | Desmond Bane | +550 |
2016 | Patty Mills | +650 |
2017 | Karl-Anthony Towns | +1000 |
2018 | CJ McCollum | +1000 |
State Farm All-Star Saturday Night Three-Point Contest Info
- Date: Saturday, Feb. 19th, 2022
- Time: 8:00 PM ET
- Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, OH
- TV: TNT
The Longshots
Longest of the longshots are Brooklyn’s Patty Mills at +650, Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns and New Orleans’ CJ McCollum at +1000 each. This will be Mills’ and Towns’ first event, while McCollum returns for a third time. Now a Pelican, McCollum has not participated since 2017, when he finished second-to-last, scoring just 10 points.
As mentioned, previous experience could be beneficial for McCollum. Shooting poorly the last time, however Paul Pierce also flunked on his first showing, then won in his second appearance.
McCollum does have the second-worst three-point percentage and corner three percentage among the participants. He has also been rusty this February, hitting just 26.8 percent of his threes. However, that can go out the window when he’s wide-open with no defenders. At 10-1, it’s worth a shot on the online sportsbook.