Why South Dakota is America’s Best Three-Point Shooting State

The three-pointer is more vital than ever.

On the court, year by year, teams get smarter about what kind of shots help win ball games and, year by year, they increasingly realize three-point shots get it done better than most others. This year, no team taking 30% or more of its field goal attempts in threes has a bad offense. “All nine teams above that 30 percent mark have ranged from the fairly solid (Houston, Portland, Phoenix) to the incredibly awesome (L.A., Toronto, Golden State, Dallas),” noted Evans Clinchy of Nylon Calculus. Off the court, how well NBA players swish threes has factored into daily prop bets, Vegas title chances and online betting tips.

By extension, clearly, never have bragging rights for best three-point shooting U.S. state meant more.

When calculating the all-time three-point percentage from all of each state’s native-born NBA and ABA players, New Hampshire takes the cake. South Dakota and Nebraska aren’t far behind:

Most Accurate Three-Point Shooting States

 

                                                   Makes                Attempts            Total %

Least Accurate Three-Point Shooting States

The more NBA/ABA players a state has produced, the harder it is to rank at the top of a major all-time statistical category involving averages. Too players drag its mean down. So it’s no surprise a state with one very sharp-shooting NBA native would end up No. 1.  No. 2 chimes in with two natives – Mike Miller and Jon Sundvold – who have attempted three point shots in the NBA.

None of the United States’ top 10 most populous states is in the Top 10 here, even though many the NBA game’s most accurate shooters were born in the likes of California (Jason Kapono, Kyle Korver), North Carolina (Hubert Davis) and Illinois (Steve Novak). To even the playing field, let’s look at number of three pointers weighted by the state’s population. This is essentially a per-capita production rating dividing the state’s natives’ total number of made three pointers by the state’s population according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

Here, D.C. ranks highest, thanks to being first home to the likes of Kevin Durant, Tim Legler and Roger Mason. The Bayou State clocks in second behind Rashard Lewis, Marcus Thornton, D.J. Augustin, Danny Granger, Joe Dumars, Clyde Drexler and even Paul Millsap. But, Lewis and Eldridge Recasner aside, the good times don’t quite roll for Louisianians in the accuracy department. The state ranks only No. 19 in the 3-Pt % list.

Top 10 “States” in Per Capita Trifecta Production

1. District of Columbia

2. Louisiana

3. South Dakota

4. West Virginia

5. Arkansas

6. Illinois

7. Mississippi

8. Michigan

9. Washington

10. Kentucky

Worst 10 States in Per Capita Trifecta Production

41. Minnesota

42. Rhode Island

43. Hawaii

44. Arizona

45. Delaware

46. Montana

47. Wyoming

48. Maine

49. North Dakota

50. New Mexico

[For more detailed metrics, and for full rankings on all 50 states, visit here]

Combining elite accuracy with high proficiency is hard. Indeed, only two states have both.

There’s Washington, which ranks No. 9 and No.10 on the the all-states percentage and per-capita production lists. And then there’s South Dakota, which – bless its Badlands heart – finishes in the Top 3 in both categories.

Ah, South Dakota. Naturally, a place that once produced a warrior so tall he was simply known as “Touch the Clouds” can bring it back down again, too, making it rain like no other.

Evin Demirel has been known to Tweet up a basketball-centric storm or two @evindemirel.