Getty Zach LaVine #8 of the Chicago Bulls participates in warmups prior to a game against the Brooklyn Nets.
Chicago Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine will play in his second consecutive All-Star Game this season in Cleveland. The UCLA product was named a reserve, an honor he deserved since he’s averaging 24.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists for the third-best team in the Eastern Conference.
Along with playing in the All-Star Game, LaVine will participate in the 3-point contest for the third year in a row and he will be vying for NBA history at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
LaVine Could Make NBA History in Cleveland
If LaVine wins the 3-point contest, he’ll become the first player in NBA history to win both the Slam Dunk contest and 3-point shootout. The Washington native won the Slam Dunk contest in 2015 and 2016 as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
During the 2019-20 season, LaVine told Sam Smith of Bulls.com that it would be “historic” if he could become the first player to win the Slam Dunk and 3-point contest.
“I don’t think anyone has won a dunk contest and a three-point contest, so I’ll try that one out. I would love to,” LaVine said. “I would love to go out there and do that and I think I’ll show them in past years what I was known for before just being a dunker is out the window. To win a three-point contest, I think, would be historic.”
LaVine is shooting 40.1% from beyond the arc this season. He’s 26th in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage and 20th in 3-point field goals. The Bulls star is one of five 3-point contest entrants shooting over 40.0 percent from 3-point range, so he will have to bring his A-game if he wants to win.
3-Point Contest Participants Are Lethal
LaVine will face Desmond Bane, Luke Kennard, CJ McCollum, Patty Mills, Karl-Anthony Towns, Fred VanVleet and Trae Young in the 3-point contest. Whoever wins the competition will be a first-time champion.
Kennard, Mills, Bane and Towns are shooting better from deep this season than LaVine. However, LaVine could have an edge since he was in the 2020 and 2021 3-point contests.
The Bulls have no representatives in this year’s Skills Challenge or Slam Dunk contest. However, rookie Ayo Dosunmu will compete for Gary Payton’s team in the Rising Stars Challenge and LaVine and DeMar DeRozan will appear in the All-Star Game.
DeRozan is an All-Star starter and LaVine is proud of what he and his teammate have accomplished in their first year as a duo.
“It means a lot any time you get honored in that way,” LaVine said, via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “Lotta hard work. It’s an honor to go be there with my teammates in the All-Star game with DeMar, and Ayo in the Rising Stars game.”
The Bulls are on their way to making the playoffs this season for the first time since 2017. LaVine has never played in the postseason, so he’s likely excited about competing for a championship for the first time in his NBA career.
Before the playoffs start, though, LaVine has his eyes on making NBA history in the Forest City.