NEWSLETTER
Zach LaVine has officially broken the Chicago Bulls’ franchise record for most 3-pointers made in a season … again.
The team’s max player hit the mark during Sunday’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. He knocked down a nasty step-back 3-pointer over DPOY candidate Jaren Jackson Jr. for his third make from downtown on the night. LaVine has made 201 3s (and counting) on the year, surpassing the franchise record he set during the 2021-22 season (200).
Indeed, this is actually the fourth time LaVine has broken this record since joining the franchise (and the third time he’s topped himself). The following are the top-10 best individual 3-point shooting seasons in Chicago Bulls history, per Stathead:
2022-23: 201 (and counting)
2020-21: 200 – Zach LaVine
2021-22: 185 – Zach LaVine
2019-20: 184 – Zach LaVine
2008-09: 173 – Ben Gordon
2005-06: 166 – Ben Gordon
2003-04: 165 – Jamal Crawford
2020-21: 163 – Coby White
2017-18: 161 – Justin Holiday
1996-97: 156 – Scottie Pippen
2006-07: 155 – Ben Gordon
Of course, when we consider the direction in which the league has headed since the Bulls acquired LaVine ahead of the 2017-18 season, it’s not too surprising that we’ve continued to see this record broken. The fact of the matter is that players shoot more 3-pointers than ever before, so the uptick in sheer volume plays a role in this accomplishment.
Having said that, LaVine still deserves props for being a consistently reliable downtown threat. He’s shot 38.5 percent from long range on an average of 5.8 attempts per game over his career. During his last four seasons, in particular, LaVine is right on the brink of finishing as a 40 percent 3-point shooter (39.3 percent on 7.6 attempts).
Similar to his interior scoring skills, he also only seems to be getting more efficient from behind the arc. LaVine is currently shooting 43.6 percent from long range on 6.2 attempts per game since the All-Star break. This has also shockingly come with a 47.1 percent clip on his pull-up 3s.
All things considered, LaVine’s success rate in recent years suggests that he should be chucking up even more long balls. Perhaps it’s the Bulls’ lack of a true facilitator that had made it hard for this to happen, but there isn’t any great excuse for LaVine not to be nearing the 10.0 attempts per game threshold. As of now, he sits just 30th in attempts per game.
Anyway, with another record season in the books, our eyes should turn to the Bulls’ all-time 3-point leader spot. Kirk Hinrich currently leads the way with 1049 in his 748 games in Chicago. LaVine is comfortably in second place with 932 makes in his 346 career games. While he surely isn’t going to claim the top spot over the next four games (unless he averages just over 29 3s a game, which ya never know), we should expect to see him do it next season with only 118 buckets to go.
