A look back at one of Michael Jordan's lowlights: his performance in the 1990 Three-Point Contest

MJ's less-than-stellar moment in the 1990 Three-Point Contest.

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Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan rarely failed at anything. In fact, he used every stumbling block he encountered—be it the Detroit Pistons, his first retirement, or public scrutiny of his gambling habits—as motivation to come back even stronger. However, there is one particular low point in Jordan’s otherwise illustrious career that often goes overlooked: his performance in the 1990 Three-Point Contest.

Not his forte

His Airness was stellar in plenty of basketball aspects, but if there was one thing he wasn’t known for, it was his three-point shooting. Jordan could dunk with ease and had an impeccable mid-range game, but his long-distance shooting skills were never a highlight of his repertoire. MJ finished his career, making only 32 perfect from long distance.

However, during the 1989-1990 season, he shot the best mark of his career, draining 37 percent from beyond the arc, resulting in him joining the 1990 All-Star Three-Point Contest in Miami. There, he took on renowned three-point marksmen like Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, and his teammate, Craig Hodges.

Jordan’s performance, though, left a lot to be desired as he made just five of his 30 attempts for a dismal 16.7 percent shooting clip—the worst ever in the history of the contest.

In the 1990 All-Star Three Point Contest, Jordan went 5-30 which is 16% from three, this attempt in the three point contest remains the least made shots by any player pic.twitter.com/9nVJG0yiNY

— Wemby @wemby (@victorwembanyma) August 19, 2023

Jordan got humbled

Although Jordan had his moments of three-point shooting prowess, especially in Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, where he sank six triples in the first half, he remembers that failure in the Three-Point Contest as a humbling experience.

“I wanted to forget about that,” Jordan said.

On this day in 1992: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Michael Jordan shrugged after making his sixth three-pointer in the first half of Game 1, dropping a total of 35 first-half points 😳🔥 pic.twitter.com/auDmEkyMpO

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) June 3, 2019

“I think I got the record for the lowest point total ever (he did), and nobody was guarding me. I got humbled real quick.”

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