Full List from 1986 to Now

The NBA’s three-point contest is back as the opener for the slam dunk contest on All-Star Saturday night. In the modern era, the NBA is overflowing with premier three-point shooters who have an opportunity to take center stage during All-Star weekend, which will be held in Los Angeles at the Clippers’ Intuit Dome this year.

Damian Lillard’s appearance in this year’s three-point contest is reason enough to watch. The 35-year-old star guard has been rehabbing since returning to the Trail Blazers this season after suffering a torn Achilles back in April. He hasn’t played in an NBA game this year, but he’s a two-time three-point contest champion, winning the event in 2023 and ‘24 before Heat guard Tyler Herro took home the trophy last year.

Shooting spot-up threes with no defenders closing out is the perfect place for Lillard to put his mark on the 2025–26 NBA season. Outside of Lillard, this year’s three-point contest is highlighted by stars like Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray. Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel got the nod after a scalding start to his first season. Now, he has an opportunity to become the first rookie to ever win the event.

With the arrival of the next edition of one of the NBA’s signature All-Star Saturday events, it’s a good time to look back on the history of the long-running three-point contest.

Every NBA three-point contest winner

Since the three-point contest first began in 1986, the event has been a staple of All-Star weekend with plenty of NBA legends and familiar faces taking home the prize. Here’s a look at each winner of the three-point contest:

NBA three-point contest history

The NBA introduced its three-point contest in 1986, when Celtics legend Larry Bird was the inaugural winner. He won the first three three-point contests the league conducted until Dale Ellis of the SuperSonics became the first winner other than Bird in ‘89.

The contest has been a mainstay for the NBA since it was introduced, missing just one year in ‘99 due to the lockout. Each iteration has typically had eight participants, outside of six players in 2003 and ‘13, then 10 contestants in ‘19 when Nets’ shooter Joe Harris walked away with the win.

A money ball worth two points has been the last ball of each rack since the contest’s inception, but the league introduced a full rack of money balls in 2014 where the contestant can choose its placement. In ‘20, two additional shots were placed even deeper on the top of both sides of the key, worth three points if made. The high score was 30 initially, but the additional money balls and three-point shots have grown the maximum total to 40 over recent years. Steph Curry and Tyrese Haliburton are tied for the most points ever in a round, with a mark of 31 points.

Best NBA three-point contests ever

Let’s bring it all the way back. To begin the three-point contest, Bird was the champion three years in a row. To complete the three-peat, he famously won the 1988 three-point contest while keeping his warm-up jacket on throughout the night. He nearly missed out on his third title in a row, but sank each ball in the fourth rack during his final round, then made the last three shots of the final round to defeat Dale Ellis of the SuperSonics. Bird’s final shot gave him the three-peat, and he held his hand up in the air before the ball dropped through the hoop, knowing the last shot was cash.

Steph Curry, the NBA’s greatest three-point shooter, has won the three-point contest twice. His first win came in 2015 where he defeated Kyrie Irving and fellow splash brother Klay Thompson. Curry’s 27 points in the final round set a record for the most points in a final round in three-point contest history until Thompson was able to tie his former teammate when he took home the crown the following year.

Curry set the record for most points in a single round when he dropped 31 in 2021, a record that Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield have since tied. He had to get past Mike Conley Jr., who gave him a run for his money, for his second three-point contest win. Conley had 28 points in the first round and followed that up with 27 in the final round. But Curry made his final two shots in the final including the money ball which took him past Conley on the final opportunity for an electric ending to Curry’s second three-point contest victory.

Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns is the only 7-footer to win the three-point contest aside from Dirk Nowitzki and in 2022, the big man put together one of the best performances we’ve ever seen. Towns had 29 points in the final round during his win, the most in the last round in three-point contest history. He got past strong performances from Luke Kennard and Trae Young, who each had 26 points apiece in the final round. Towns remains the only center to have won the event and he proved one more time that big men can certainly shoot.

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