Stephen Curry is the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history. We knew this well before he started breaking records and winning championships, but now that he was in his thirties, he had gathered enough volume to rewrite the history books. The Golden Star Warriors superstar did just that in an important way by hitting his 2,561th three-point hit in a game against the Utah Jazz, and passing Reggie Miller for the second-most in NBA history.
Here’s a look at the shot Curry placed in second place:
To put Curry’s dominance into perspective, he’s just 32 years old. Miller retired at 39, but still could not score enough 3s to stop Curry. Miller has never scored more than 6.6 three-point attempts per game in a single season. Curry is currently supplementing it for the ninth consecutive season. He scored 98 points in the 2014-15 playoffs, just as many as Miller made in his entire second NBA season. Curry may be playing in an era that is more favorable to his gifts, but his numbers are still not on the list.
Next in line for Curry is the NBA’s all-time leader in three-point shots, Ray Allen. In his Hall of Fame career, Allen scored 2,973 three-pointers, putting him ahead of Curry by more than 400 tries. With his career of 3.6 he was three times per game, Curry would expect to pass him at some point next season. At that point he will only be 33 or 34 and he will probably have a few more years left in his career to clinch the lead.
If he plays long enough, the record can never be broken, no matter how many 3’s future players it takes. Curry may have had an era advantage over Miller, but he overtook him so quickly because he is the greatest shooter in NBA history. We may never see another like Curry, and if all that was said and done, the record books would reflect that.