Two-time champ Damian Lillard headlines NBAs 3-point contest

Damian Lillard is apparently going to wear his Portland uniform again, in a most unexpected manner.

Lillard — who has not played this season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon — will participate in the 3-point contest on All-Star Saturday, the NBA announced.

Lillard is joining 2018 3-point contest champion Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns in the field, along with Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Denver’s Jamal Murray, Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis Jr. and Miami’s Norman Powell.

If Lillard wins, he would join Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only three-time winners of the event, which will be held at the LA Clippers‘ home in Inglewood, California.

In a change from the norm, the 3-point contest will kick off All-Star Saturday, followed by the return of the Shooting Stars competition, then the dunk contest. The skills competition is out, at least for this year.

It would be Lillard’s first time playing — or at least shooting — in front of fans since he rejoined Portland going into this season. Lillard got hurt last spring while a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, who wound up waiving and stretching the remaining $113 million on his contract to make him a free agent and give him the opportunity to re-sign with his original NBA club.

He’s not the first 3-point participant without a made 3-pointer in that season: In the 1989 contest, the NBA invited Rimas Kurtinaitis of Lithuania to participate. Kurtinaitis never played in the NBA.

Lillard was the sixth pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Trail Blazers and spent 11 seasons with Portland before he was traded to Milwaukee just before the 2023-24 season. Lillard won back-to-back 3-point contest titles in 2023 and 2024, before Miami’s Tyler Herro — who has missed most of this season because of injuries — won the event last season.

Herro is not in the lineup of 3-point participants this year.