The winner of last year’s 3 point shootout, San Antonio Spurs sharpshooter Marco Belinelli, will defend his title in this year’s star studded Foot Locker NBA 3-point shootout.
From Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express News.
Defending All-Star Weekend 3-point champion Marco Belinelli said he has gotten the invitation from league officials to defend the long ball championship he won in New Orleans last year.
“Yes, I will be there,” Belinelli said before Wednesday’s Spurs-Hornets game at the AT&T Center. “I am really looking forward to it.”
Now, the field is set and this might just be the best field ever.
It features Atlanta Hawks Kyle Korver, Golden State Warriors guards Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews, Los Angeles Clippers guard J.J. Redick and now the defending champion Belinelli.
Check out how the shooters compare this season, courtesy Dan Feldman of NBC’s ProBaketballTalk.
If Belinelli wouldn’t have competed, he would’ve joined 6 other men in the 28 year history of the event who didn’t return to defend their title. All 6 defending champions had good reasons to why they didn’t return. Kevin Love (2012 champion), Steve Kerr (1997), Mark Price (1994), Dale Ellis (1989) and Larry Bird (1988) were all injured the following seasons and Jeff Hornacek (2000) retired.
Belinelli was essentially a lock to make it and now he’ll complete the already star studded field.
