Jayson Tatum on participating in 3-point shooting contest, says he has been practicing: "I mean s**t, they asked me if I wanted to do it"
Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum will be participating in the 3-point shooting contest at this year's All-Star weekend. The All-Star forward gave insights into how his participation came through and how preparations have been going after the Celtics' 127-109 win over the Pistons, saying (via NBC Sports):
"How did I find out? I mean s**t they [NBA] asked me if I wanted to and I said 'yeah.' And actually, I practiced this morning. We had the timer, had the racks up. I was in the 3-point contest when it was in Atlanta, during the Covid year (2021), lost in the second final round to Steph [Curry]."
Jayson Tatum talks participating in the 3-PT contest during All-Star weekend, and how he's already been practicing 👀
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The NBA asked notable stars like Tatum, Damian Lillard, and Tyler Herro, among others, to participate in this year's 3-point shooting contest. Tatum will start in the All-Star game. He is among the frontrunners to win the MVP award.
Jayson Tatum has averaged a career-high 30.5 points per game this season. He is shooting 35.3% on 3-pointers, making 9.3 attempts on average. Tatum's shooting percentage is just around the league average this year. However, he is a high-volume shooter and is unstoppable from deep if he has a hot shooting hand.
He has had 12 games in which he has converted at least five 3-pointers. Tatum's best 3-point shooting night came during the Boston Celtics' 134-121 win over the Miami Heat on November 30th, 2022. He converted 8-of-12 shots from deep in that contest.
Jayson Tatum enters All-Star break with a sublime shooting performance from deep
Jayson Tatum seems ready to take center stage at the 3-point shooting contest this All-Star Weekend. The 4x All-Star forward torched the Detroit Pistons, scoring 38 points on 62.5% shooting. He made 6-of-10 shots from 3-point range.
That would boost his confidence ahead of what seems like a difficult 3-point shooting contest to win with so many efficient shooters set to play in the competition. Apart from stars like Tatum, Lillard, Haliburton, and Herro, some of the NBA's finest 3-point specialists like Buddy Hield, Kevin Huerter, and Lauri Markkanen will also be taking part in the contest.
Jayson Tatum is among the few players from the lot to have the experience of participating in the 3-point shooting contest. He also competed against the greatest shooter on the planet, Steph Curry, in 2021. Tatum lost to Curry, but he has familiarity with the pressure of going up against a shooter like the Warriors superstar.
It will be interesting to see if the Celtics' star can make amends for not being able to win the contest two years ago.