Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry is widely regarded as one of the greatest – if not the greatest – snipers of all time. He scored the second plus 3 points in NBA history, just behind Ray Allen, and broke a plethora of other shooting records in the process. When he retires, he will likely have virtually all shooting-related records.
Steph is not the only major sniper in his family, however. His father, Dell, was an extremely effective marksman during his own game days, as he took down more than 1,200 points from 3 points and shot more than 40 percent from a long distance over his career.
Then there’s Seth Curry – Steph’s brother, and the starting shot guard for the Philadelphia 76ers. Seth is in the middle of his first season in Philadelphia, and he’s having a year of career when it comes to shooting basketball. In fact, Seth is on his way to set a shooting record that not even Steph achieved. In the season so far, Seth is throwing more than 50% of the ground, more than 50% from a long distance and 100% from the foul line. The man has not yet lost a free throw. In the season, he went from 30 to 30 on the charity track. If he manages to maintain those marks for the rest of the season, he will be the first player to do so.
Seth’s kick from all sides has been extremely impressive this season, and the good news for Philadelphia is that it has translated into victories as well. The Sixers are 15-3 when Seth dresses, compared to only 3-4 when he is out. Curry was forced to lose seven games in a row after testing positive for COVID-19 last month.
Curry proved to be an excellent fit alongside Sixers All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. The ability of Embiid and Simmons to draw the attention of opposing defenses resulted in some open opportunities for Curry, while Curry’s gravity, and the fact that defenders should not let him offer help elsewhere, in turn opened up the court for Embiid and Simmons. As a result, SIxers seem much less clumsy on the offensive side than they did last season.
While the Sixers are benefiting greatly from Curry’s ability to make room on the ground, his former franchise, the Dallas Mavericks, is clearly losing the sniper guard. After finishing 10th in the overall standings last season, making 3 points per team, the Mavericks are dead this season. This drop cannot be attributed to the loss of Curry, but it certainly played a role.
Seth has been largely forced to live under his brother’s gigantic shadow since he joined the league in 2013, but he quietly did an excellent job establishing himself as a great player and a fierce sniper. Now that he is playing a key role in an opponent, he may start to gain a little more recognition.