Amidst the pace-and-space revolution the NBA has experienced in recent years, one prolific 3-point threat who seems to stay a bit under the radar is New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum.
While he has averaged at least 20 points a game in each of the last 10 seasons, some may not realize how potent he is from beyond the arc. But he came into Wednesday with a career accuracy of 39.7% from that distance, and he has gone over 40% for an entire season four times.
On Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, McCollum moved into 19th on the all-time list of made 3-pointers by surpassing Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki. The NBA congratulated McCollum on this accomplishment through its official X (formerly Twitter) account.
Congrats to @CJMcCollum of the @PelicansNBA for moving into 19th on the all-time 3-POINTERS MADE list! pic.twitter.com/hDD6TrS7Pq
— NBA (@NBA) March 20, 2025
McCollum's best years came with the Portland Trail Blazers, when he teamed with Damian Lillard to form one of basketball's deadliest backcourts this side of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
However, those Blazers teams only reached the Western Conference Finals once and usually exited in the first round. After eight seasons and change together, that backcourt was broken up when McCollum was traded to New Orleans midway through the 2021-22 campaign.
New Orleans has been hit very hard by injuries this season, but when healthy, it does seem to possess the talent to possibly do damage in the playoffs, especially on paper, and McCollum is a major reason why.
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This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 9:26 PM.