Stephen Curry is now the owner of second place on the NBA’s 3-point all-time list, and it should only be a matter of time before he is first.
The Golden State Warriors star overtook Reggie Miller on Saturday with the 2,561th 3-point basket of his career, scored early in the third quarter against Utah Jazz. Curry finished with 2,562 3-point career marks, going 5 out of 10 from bottom with 24 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds in a 127-108 loss.
Only Ray Allen is ahead of Curry on the list, with a record 2,973.
At the current Curry rate of around 4.1 3 points per game since the 2012-13 season, it would only take 101 games to pass in the Hall of Fame. If you use your 4.6 per game rate since 2015-16, that number drops to 90. Either way, Curry is on his way to breaking the record next season, except for injuries or an unexplained loss of form.
Where Curry is on the all-time NBA three-point list
With active players in bold:
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Ray Allen – 2,973
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Stephen Curry – 2,562
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Reggie Miller – 2,560
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Kyle Korver – 2,450 *
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James Harden – 2,352
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Vince Carter – 2,290
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Jason Terry – 2,282
* currently not on an NBA list
Reggie Miller congratulates Curry several times
Miller may be a notorious chatterbox, but he was nothing but graceful when Curry passed him. There was the graceful tweet:
Then, the graceful video shouted:
Then there was the graceful participation in Curry’s post-game Zoom call.
Reggie Miller surprises Steph Curry by congratulating him on an “unbelievable achievement” by passing him on the 3-point list. Curry says he launched a 31 after dropping the triple that Miller passed. pic.twitter.com/Qdj9XZVPlE
– Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) January 24, 2021
What a boy.
Remember or not, Curry is already the goat sniper
Allen may be ahead of Curry (for now), but it is difficult to argue that Curry did not overtake him as the top marksman in NBA history.
Allen has scored 2,973 points out of 3 points over an 18-year career. Curry is on track to overtake him in year 13, despite losing significant parts of several seasons due to injuries. Allen played 1,300 games, Curry just finished his 715th.
Allen hit 40.0 percent of the bottom of his career, while Miller hit 39.5 percent. Curry has skyrocketed 43.3% in his career. In fact, you have to go up to Hubert Davis 205th on the 3-point list of all time to find a player who scored 3 points at a higher rate than Curry (other players with a better 3-point rate than Curry : his brother Seth Curry and trainer Steve Kerr).
Curry already has the all-season record for 3 points too, with 402 in his 2015-16 unanimous MVP year. Four other top 10 positions of all time belong to him.
No player in NBA history comes close to combining precision and volume on the 3-point line like Curry. He may be doing this in the happiest era in basketball history, but it was Curry himself who helped introduce the NBA into that era, and it must be Curry who retires with the title of NBA’s greatest sniper.
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