The 1994 3-Point Shootout turned 20 years old last month, as our visions of what the NBA All-Star Weekend used to be to what it is present day has changed dramatically. Back then, we would expect to be wowed as the world's best would usually put on a memorable display that would be worthwhile to discuss during recess. Now? We just hope.
Fortunately, the '94 Shootout delivered in ways that I can still vividly remember.
The Participants
Steve Kerr.
Dana Barros.
Dale Ellis.
B.J. Armstrong.
Mitch Richmond.
Dell Curry.
Eric Murdock.
Mark Price.
Here are 10 semi-relevant and interesting points while rewatching the video below of the 1994 NBA 3-Point Shootout.
ONE: Goodness gracious that 1994 music was hypnotic.
TWO: Dana Barros doesn't get nearly the amount of respect he deserves. In a time where we respect the shooting proficiency of a 50/40/90 campaign, Barros put up a 49% FG/46.4% 3P/89.9% FT shooting season along with 21 points and 8 assists in 1994-95 for a lackluster, 24-win Philadelphia 76ers team. Barros then signed a 5-year deal to be a cornerstone building block of his hometown Boston Celtics. Unfortunately, those years would mean being coached by M.L. Carr and Rick Pitino.
THREE: With all due respect, Dale Ellis chews gum like a guy who will replace your alternator for $50 and a 6-pack of Miller High Life.
FOUR: I hope to God that I never have to explain to people that B.J. Armstrong somehow was a NBA All-Star in 1994.
FIVE: The thought of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen potentially playing with two 3-point shooters who shot 45% from three-point range each? Scary.
SIX: Mitch Richmond averaged more than 21 points for 10 consecutive seasons. This isn't really relevant to the video below, other than to say that Rock was an all-time great.
SEVEN: Dell Curry is still the all-time leading scorer in Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans history. This baffles me for some reason.
EIGHT: Charles Barkley saying "I'm trying to diversify my game" out of nowhere in the video clip is an awesome experience. Twenty years later, there isn't a thing I'd rather be doing than watching Inside The NBA with Chuck, Kenny, Shaq and Ernie. Diversified indeed.
NINE: Mark Price is an Oklahoma legend. If you talk to any seasoned veterans back in the Sooner state, there are some who will say that he is the greatest basketball player they'd ever seen. Price never lost a 3-point shootout that he played in (although we only know of two of them he participated in) as we went back-to-back in 1993 (beating Terry Porter) and in 1994 (beating Dana Barros). And to think, Mark Price was once so bad as a rookie that the Cavaliers decided to draft another point guard in the following year's draft. During Price's second year he blossomed into the 4-time All-Star we all grew to love in the 1990s. Oh yeah, that point guard the Cavaliers drafted? It was Kevin Johnson.
TEN: Mark Price started slowly in the 1994 competition, as he scored just 15 points in the first round. Then in the second, when Price put up 21 points, the Round Mound gave us the signature quote of the competition.
"They should've kicked him while he was down." -- Charles Barkley
We don't remember Mark Price's score of 24 in the 1994 3-point shootout partly because guys like Craig Hodges and Jason Kapono have put up 25's in the past. However, until Price missed the final three shots of the contest, Price only missed 2 of his 27 three-point attempts. We'll always remember Price as being a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers team that could never get past the legendary first three-peat Chicago Bulls squad, and there's no shame in that whatsoever.
For what it's worth, Michael Jordan's 5 points in the 1990 3-Point Shootout remains the lowest score in 3-Point Shootout history. We definitely did not want to be like Mike on that day. (Although I'm sure we'd take a few other days.)
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”
