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No one is immune from the powerfully engrained desire to feed the great take machine. Everyone from the most lowly Twitter stan accounts to, apparently, NBA decision makers at the highest levels. It’s simply human nature.
Word has come from Chris Haynes at Yahoo Sports that Luka Doncic and Trae Young will be among those invited to participate in the NBA three-point contest at All-Star weekend. It’s hard to imagine that this has nothing to do with the narrative that has formed around this point guard dyad since they were swapped for one another on draft night.
In terms of pure shooting, Trae is no slouch and has a highlight reel chock full of three point bombs from absurd distances. Luka, known to let it fly from 30+ from time to time, is perhaps better known for his step back that he uses to embarrass any big unlucky enough to switch on to him above the arc. However, neither have necessarily been dead eye shooters from distance this season.
There are 33 NBA players shooting above 40% beyond the arc this season, and none of them are Doncic or Young. Luka is averaging 33% while Trae has a more impressive, but still sub-elite, 37.5% mark.
What the two young point guards do have going for them is volume and visibility. Trae Young has taken the fourth-most threes so far this season with 320, and Luka has 302 of his own. Although, they both average 9.4 attempts per game — tied for fourth in the league.
Beyond what we’re able to divine from the numbers alone, or, as it’s called in some circles, “nerd shit,” undoubtedly the reason we may see these two face off over All-Star weekend is because of the drama of it all. Trae has his supporters, Luka has his, and despite the two being more cordial to each other than their respective fan bases could claim to be, for some people, there’s apparently nothing that will ever definitively be able to answer the question “Are we SURE that Luka better than Trae, though?”
Without a doubt, this three point contest will do little to turn the page on that question. But, hey, at least we’ll all have more things to yell at each other about, and that’s what sports is all about.