Milwaukee Bucks All-Star point guard Damian Lillard went into the NBA Three-Point Contest looking to make a little of history. No player in NBA history had won the even three times in a row and, as the winner in each of the past two All-Star Weekend events, Lillard was hoping to become the first to do it.
Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Lillard was eliminated in the first round after scoring just 18 points, ending what had been an incredible run of dominance in the NBA Three-Point Contest. Miami Heat guard, and Wisconsin native, Tyler Herro, ended up winning it this year.
Afterwards, he made a rather blunt, though perhaps not surprising announcement.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Damian Lillard Is “Retiring” from the NBA 3-Point Contest
Per the Bucks’ X (formerly Twitter) account, this was the last NBA Three-Point Contest that Lillard participated in. He told the camera crew that he is, “officially retired” from participating in the event.
Dame’s officially retiring from the 3-point contest. pic.twitter.com/I9f1s9kkR2
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) February 16, 2025
“Came up short tonight,” the nine-time All-Star said. “Congrats to Tyler. It’s all good… This will be my last one. I’m retiring. Officially retiring.”
At 34 years old, Lillard likely has a few more years left in him for his NBA career as a whole. However, it sounds like the decision to make the 2025 NBA Three-Point Contest his last one was a conclusion that he came to before being eliminated in the opening round on Saturday night.
Ironically, Lillard is shooting 38.4% from three this season, which is better than his three-point percentage in each of the past two years, which saw him winning the NBA Three-Point Contest. He shot 37.1% from three in 2022-23 and 35.4% in 2023-24.
And, to be fair, Lillard is not the best three-point shooter on the Bucks this season (though he does attempt the most three-point shots), Taurean Prince (46.2%) and AJ Green (42.7%) are among the Milwaukee players that have a better percentage.
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