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Damian Lillard Posts DM Recruiting Steph Curry for Three-Point Contest at 2027 ASG

Curry has two three-point contest titles to Lillard's three.
Curry has two three-point contest titles to Lillard's three. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Although he is still recovering from the torn Achilles he suffered during the 2025 playoffs, Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard nonetheless participated in the All-Star three-point shooting contest on Saturday, during which he took down his competition and walked away with his third overall title in the event.

Dame is now tied with NBA legends Larry Bird and Craig Hodges for the most three-point contest wins in history, and something about that just didn't sit right with two-time winner Steph Curry, widely regarded as one of the best shooters the league has ever seen.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's weekend-ending All-Star Game (which saw Team Stars dominate Team Stripes, for what it's worth), Curry told reporters that he now plans to return to the three-point contest in the future so that he can match Lillard's record.

“Oh, 100%,” Curry said. “I already scheduled it. We’re going to bring some people—me, Dame and I’ll try to get Klay [Thompson].”

Lillard himself then confirmed that the conversation happened when he posted a screenshot of his DMs with Curry to his Instagram story.

"Next year....me, you, klay, book, and 4 more real shooters..." Dame wrote in his initial message, to which Curry replied: "Yessir I'm in. Know Klay will do it if I ask and book will be at home. Perfect setup."

"Book," of course, refers to Suns guard Devin Booker, whose team will play host for next year's ASG. Lillard also narrowly beat the guard in the competition on Saturday, so it stands to reason that perhaps he will want a rematch.

As any avid NBA fan knows, the All-Star Game and surrounding weekend have lost much of their spectacle in recent years, in part because of a lack of effort or interest from the game's biggest stars. Although the league took some (successful) steps toward remedying that this go-around, a three-point event featuring Curry, Lillard, Thompson and Booker would definitely draw some added interest and make the whole thing feel much more special.

So here's hoping this actually happens. Thanks, Dame!


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Brigid Kennedy
BRIGID KENNEDY

Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.