Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum will get his second chance to win the league’s three-point crown at NBA All-Star weekend.
McCollum is one of eight players selected to for the three-point contest which will be a part of All-Star Saturday Night on Feb. 18 in New Orleans.
The rest of the field includes Golden State guard and defending champion Klay Thompson, Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, Houston’s Eric Gordon, Dallas’ Wesley Matthews and Los Angeles’ Nick Young.
McCollum previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he had accepted an invitation to the event. He competed in the contest in 2016 after he was added as an injury replacement but was eliminated after the preliminary round.
“I’ll take it serious this year,” McCollum said. “Last year I was a throw-in. They called me the night before. I was like, ‘OK.’ I tried to get to the gym and I did a round on the racks. It was cool. This year, I’ll probably prepare more, try to get out of the first round. You get out of the first round, you’ve got a shot.”
He becomes the second Blazer in franchise history to compete in the three-point contest twice and eighth ever participant, joining Kiki Vandeweghe (1987), Danny Ainge (1991), Clyde Drexler (1991), Terry Porter (1991, 1993), Cliff Robinson (1996), Damian Lillard (2014) and Matthews (2015).
No Portland player has ever won the event, although Porter did reach the finals in 1991.
All-Star Saturday night tips off at 5 p.m. on Feb. 18 beginning with Skills Challenge on TNT.
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