We’ve known this for quite some time, but after passing Ray Allen to become the NBA’s all-time 3-point leader, there is no further denying this simple fact: Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA. NBA.
And with all due respect to the all-time 3-point leaders before him, none of them were able to shoot in the variety of ways that Curry does.
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Off the dribble, off a screen or in transition, with or without opposition, from the 3-point line or from the midfield logo, Curry’s unmatched combination of skill and arrogance leads to a constant barrage of shots like never before. we had seen.
The result? An incredibly unlikely journey that seems even more implausible when you consider how it all started.
From a three-star high school recruit with no major offers to a mid-level star who worked tirelessly to become an NBA prospect, Curry still had a long list of skeptics who did not believe he could succeed at the level. of the NBA.
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He was passed six times before being selected No. 7 in the 2009 NBA Draft, two of which were players in the same position. It was said that he was too small or that his game would not carry over to the NBA, a pair of projections that ended up being undoubtedly false.
Turns out, he didn’t need his game to translate to the NBA level because it would change the way basketball is played forever.
In a league long dominated by greats and athletic wings, Curry’s small stature and larger-than-life 3-pointers changed everything. From driveways to gyms to offices to war rooms, from Inside the NBA to #NBATwitter, Curry not only changed the way we think and talk about basketball, but led the entire league to fast-paced, game-oriented to the perimeter and without positions that we see today. .
We were able to test who he would become when he lost 54 points at Madison Square Garden in 2013, causing all New York fans to feel all the remorse towards his franchise for airing the baby-faced killer.
We realized “this will really work” when we watched him hit a record 286 3-pointers en route to winning his first MVP and NBA title in 2015.
And we realized that the rest of the league was in big trouble when he became the first unanimous MVP, leading the Warriors to the best record in NBA history (73-9) in 2016.
It was during that season that Curry began to be regarded as the best shooter the game has ever seen, knocking down 402 3s to become the first player to hit 300. or 400 triples in a single season.
As mentioned above, there have been other 3-point kings of all time, but there has never been anyone quite like Curry, a fact recognized by the same shooters who happened along the way who “bent the knee” to Curry’s reign as the 3. – shooting king point.
At 2,974 3s (and counting), Curry isn’t chasing history anymore, he’s making history.
Of course, Curry is no stranger to rewriting the record books.
And your list of records doesn’t end there, either. Curry also contains all of these below, most of which can also never be broken:
- Most triples per game in NBA history: 3.8
- Most 3s Scored in NBA Playoff History: 470
- Most triples in a single NBA Playoffs: 98, 2015 (tied with Klay Thompson, 2016)
- Most 3s Scored in NBA Finals History: 121
- Most 3s in a single NBA Finals game: 9 (Game 2, 2018)
- Most games with 50 points and more than 10 triples in NBA history: 7
- Most seasons with more than 200 triples in NBA history: 8
- Most 3s Made in a Calendar Month in NBA History: 96 (April 2023)
- Most 3s Made in a Calendar Year in NBA History: 440 (2023)
- Fewer games played to reach 2,000 triples made: 597
- Highest scoring average in NBA history by a player who shot 50-40-90 in a single season: 30.1
Remarkable.
Fathomless.
Undeniable.
Congratulations to the newly created king of triples.
