PHOENIX – Max Christie is having the best 3-point shooting season of his career, but that didn’t prevent him from being omitted from the NBA’s 3-Point Contest during next weekend’s All-Star Weekend in Inglewood, Calif.
The league announced the eight-player contestant field Sunday, but Christie was notably absent from the annual showcase of the best perimeter shooters in today’s game.
The 3-point contest will include Tyrese Maxey, Kon Knueppel, Donovan Mitchell, Jamal Murray, Bobby Portis Jr., Norman Powell, Devin Booker and Damian Lillard, who could make NBA history if he wins the contest for a third time.
Christie had a strong case to make his first appearance in the 3-point contest, especially considering the advantage he has over some of the other notable participants.
Mavericks
Lillard has not played this season because he’s recovering from Achilles surgery. Booker is shooting a career-low 30.7% from beyond the arc this season. Christie also has a higher 3-point percentage than six of the confirmed participants.
Christie made 115 3-pointers at a 36.6% clip last season and he’s already eclipsed that amount of triples with 121 this year. He averaged 1.5 3s per game last season and is up to 2.5 per game this year, making a career-high 42.9% of his attempts.
Christie is 15th in the NBA in 3-point percentage and his 121 total threes places him at 32nd in the league.
Naji Marshall reacted to his teammate’s omission with a social media post on his Instagram story: “No Max Christie?”
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd made his case for Christie to be among the 3-point contest participants before Thursday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
“Max Christie’s been playing extremely well for us,” Kidd said. “We need to get him into the 3-point contest. He deserves to be in that.”
Christie is averaging a career-high 13.3 points with 3.4 rebounds per game. He had 20 points in Thursday’s loss to the Spurs and 17 in Sunday’s rematch.
Cooper Flagg will be the only player to represent the Mavericks in Los Angeles next weekend since the 19-year-old rookie will take part in the annual Rising Stars challenge, set for Friday.
After making a career-high eight 3-pointers at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 19, Christie was asked if he saw the NBA’s annual 3-point contest in his future.
“That’d be super cool,” Christie said. “Something I definitely wouldn’t turn down. Something that would be a dream come true for me and if I get the nod, that would be amazing.”
Christie will have to wait at least another year to fulfill that dream.
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