Stephen Curry passes Reggie Miller for second on NBA's all-time 3-point list
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Stephen Curry is now owner of the second spot on the NBA’s all-time 3-pointers list, and it should only be a matter of time until he’s knocking on first.
The Golden State Warriors star passed Reggie Miller on Saturday with the 2,561st 3-pointer of his career, scored early in the third quarter against the Utah Jazz. Curry eventually finished with 2,562 career 3-point makes, going 5-for-10 from deep with 24 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds in a 127-108 loss.
Only Ray Allen sits ahead of Curry on the list, with a record of 2,973.
At Curry’s current rate of about 4.1 3-pointers made per game since the 2012-13 season, it would take him only 101 games to pass the Hall of Famer. If you use his rate of 4.6 per game since 2015-16, that number goes down to 90. Either way, Curry is on track to break the record sometime next season barring injury or an inexplicable loss of form.
Where Curry stands on NBA all-time 3-point list
With active players bolded:
Ray Allen – 2,973
Stephen Curry – 2,562
Reggie Miller – 2,560
Kyle Korver - 2,450*
James Harden - 2,352
Vince Carter - 2,290
Jason Terry – 2,282
* not currently on an NBA roster
Reggie Miller congratulates Curry several times
Miller might be a notorious trash-talker, but he was nothing but gracious when Curry passed him. There was the gracious tweet:
I’ve had the best seat in the house in calling a lot of your games @StephenCurry30, simply GREATNESS!!! Congrats but the job isn’t done, Jesus Shuttlesworth is waiting on ya.. #GreatnessPersonified pic.twitter.com/Nogs71fRyA
— Reggie Miller (@ReggieMillerTNT) January 24, 2021
Then the gracious video shout-out:
Game recognize game.@ReggieMillerTNT with a message for @StephenCurry30 👏 pic.twitter.com/omcu5VuDF8
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 24, 2021
Then the gracious cameo on Curry’s postgame Zoom call.
Reggie Miller surprises Steph Curry to congratulate him on an “unbelievable achievement” on passing him on the 3-point list. Curry says he threw up a 31 after knocking down the triple that passed Miller. pic.twitter.com/Qdj9XZVPlE
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) January 24, 2021
What a guy.
Record or not, Curry is already the shooting GOAT
Allen might be ahead of Curry (for now), but it’s hard to argue that Curry hasn’t surpassed him as the preeminent shooter in NBA history.
Allen made his 2,973 3-pointers over the course of an 18-year career. Curry is on track to pass him in Year 13, despite losing significant chunks of multiple seasons to injury. Allen played 1,300 games, Curry just wrapped up his 715th.
Allen shot 40.0 percent from deep for his career, while Miller shot 39.5 percent. Curry has shot 43.3 percent in his career. In fact, you have to go all the way down to Hubert Davis at 205th on the all-time 3-point list to find a player who made 3-pointers at a greater rate than Curry (other players with a higher career 3-point rate than Curry: his brother Seth Curry and coach Steve Kerr).
Curry already owns the all-time single season record for 3-pointers as well, with 402 in his unanimous MVP year in 2015-16. Four other spots on the all-time top 10 belong to him.
No player in NBA history comes close to combining accuracy and volume at the 3-point line like Curry. He might be doing it in the most 3-point-happy era in basketball history, but it was Curry himself who helped usher the NBA into that era, and it should be Curry who retires with the clear title of the NBA’s greatest shooter.
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