Stephen Curry makes history after revolutionizing the NBA.
It was never a matter of if, but when, Stephen Curry‘s historic pursuit of Ray Allen’s all-time 3-point record came to a conclusion after he made 3- pointer No. 2,974 of his career making history becoming the all-time 3-point king.
With the record now being broken, Curry not only cements himself as the all-time leader but also the greatest shooter the game has ever seen. As we all have indeed witnessed history, we have also witnessed a player who has changed the game with his prolific shooting ability.
Not to take any credit away from Hall of Famers Allen or the great Reggie Miller and what they accomplished during their illustrious careers but Curry is one of a kind in a category all by himself. The NBA has rarely seen a player who can shoot it off the dribble with ease while being tightly guarded as soon as he advances the ball past half court as NBA coaches have had to adapt to his style of play and tailor their defensive game plan designed to specifically slow him and still ends up getting torched.
Even though this is Curry’s record and his name alone will be attached to it in the record books, let’s also give credit to Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors‘ coaching staff. The strategies they have implemented into their game plan to allow Curry to be successful is what has led him to the brink of this historic moment as they have installed an offense that allows for creativity and ball movement which Curry has thrived under for years.
But the main thing that has set Curry apart from the great shooters of the past is his shot selection. A lot of his shots have been made under a degree of difficulty while he is heavily guarded with double and triple teams. Also, consider the fact Curry has the ability to create his own shot instead of just being a spot-up shooter.
His creativity mixed with his pure shooting ability and quick release is part of the reason he is breaking this record while still in the prime of his career. What intrigues me the most about Curry is how unselfish he is. It’s amazing how well he gets his teammates involved and how he meshes so well with other superstar players.
Now that Curry has broken the record, we have to wonder just how long it will be until any player comes remotely close to catching him? It would have to be a special player in a very unique situation where he would have to be a very efficient volume shooter playing bin a scheme where he could be put in a position to get his shot off consistently.
People say that records are meant to be broken and that history usually repeats itself but it may be a very long time before we witness another great shooter of Curry’s caliber. It only seemed right that Curry break the record against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the same place he was drafted in 2009 and the same building he had his breakout performance and coming out party scoring 54 points in 2013.
Just a comparison of the pace it took Curry to break this record: Allen played exactly 1,471 total games (including playoffs) in his career and finished with 2, 973 3-pointers while Curry has only played in 901 total games (including playoffs) in his career as he eclipsed the all-time record and it appears Curry is far from finished. That’s 570 fewer games than Curry played in than Allen which is an amazing feat within itself.
Curry deserves to be celebrated for what he has done for the game of basketball as he will most definitely go down as the greatest shooter in the history of the sport.