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For once, Steph Curry was caught by surprise.
The Warriors superstar was asked what he thought about former teammate Klay Thompson approaching Reggie Miller for fifth all-time on the NBA career 3-pointer list.
“Hold on, you said fifth?” Curry said on Sunday, referencing Miller. “Hold on, me, James [Harden], Ray [Allen], [Klay] will be fourth right or am I tripping? Who’s fourth? [Damian Lillard] is fourth? Wait, Dame caught Reggie? You got me confused now. I didn’t know that. Well, it’s crazy because I passed Reggie three years ago and he was second [then] and now he’s fifth?
“I don’t know what the margin is, but I’m sure [Klay] will be top three at some point. I think it’s only fitting that it would be me, James and Klay [in the top three] at the end of our careers. If that can happen, it would be beautiful.”
Steph’s reaction to finding out Klay is close to passing Reggie Miller for 5th on the All-Time 3-pointer list:
“Hold on. You said fifth?… It’s crazy because I passed Reggie three years ago and he was second and now he’s fifth.” 😅 pic.twitter.com/kzyxYgG1Ao
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) December 16, 2024
Miller was the marquee long-range shooter of his generation, making a then-record 2,560 3-pointers when he retired in 2005. Allen surpassed Miller’s record in 2011, eventually retiring in 2014 with 2,973 career 3-pointers. Allen’s retirement coincided with the rise of Curry and Thompson, who changed the face of basketball with their highly accurate shooting.
Before the emergence of the Golden State dynasty, the 3-point shot was a novelty in the NBA, typically reserved for specialists like Allen. Now, teams base their entire rosters around strong perimeter shooting, foregoing the traditional model of pounding the ball inside.
So, it’s no surprise that Curry, Thompson, Harden and Lillard have rewritten the list. Thompson enters Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers needing only 12 3-pointers to surpass Miller, which seems likely to happen in the next few games given his offensive resurgence with the Dallas Mavericks this season.
Thompson likely won’t catch Curry, who owns the record with an incomprehensible 3,832 3-pointers through Sunday’s game and will push that number well past 4,000.
Still, seeing Thompson, Curry and their rivals Harden and Lillard atop the list would be a fitting end to one of the most exciting eras in NBA history.
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