The explosion in three-point capturing ushered in by Stephen Curry, alongside fellow splash bro Klay Thompson, has actually modified the recreation everyone knows and love over the previous decade. Once Golden State proved that you would win a championship enjoying largely on the perimeter offensively, the total league tried to comply with go well with in duplicating that mannequin. While nobody has been capable of do it fairly like Golden State, what it produced was a whole lot of guys jacking up threes all willy-nilly and setting new information at breakneck velocity. All that mentioned, it’s completely wild to suppose that Draymond Green will go down in NBA historical past as a extra prolific three-point shooter than Larry Bird.
Nope, that’s no typing error, Green has leaped over Larry Legend on the all-time three-pointers made list. Without context, that every one appears like the largest oxymoron in NBA historical past. But having performed his total profession on this period the place everyone jacks up threes at will, Green has surpassed a participant who’s thought of certainly one of the purest shooters ever to step on a basketball court docket.
Bird is certainly one of solely two gamers to win The Association’s annual three-point contest 3 times. Former Chicago Bulls sharpshooter Craig Hodges is the different, however Bird was so good at it, that he took the first three contests the NBA ever held. The Boston Celtics nice additionally took house three consecutive league MVP awards in the mid-Nineteen Eighties as effectively. There was simply one thing about Bird and the No. 3.
Larry Legend was certainly one of the most feared shooters of the 80s and was recognized for trash-talking opponents — calling his shot Babe Ruth model, then telling you about it afterward. But having performed in an period the place the additional you have been from the basket, the worse that shot was thought of, he’s grow to be considerably of a footnote, statistically, in lots of three-point capturing metrics. But once you return and watch Bird, it’s simple to see why he was seen as such a menace from wherever on the court docket.
None of that is meant to downplay Green as a result of, realizing his model, it should’ve come as a shock to most discovering out he’d made 650 (and counting) threes throughout his profession. For youthful followers who’ve solely heard Bird’s title talked about from time-to-time, extra context at all times helps. Attempts per recreation inform a big a part of this story. Green has averaged 2.6 3-point makes an attempt per recreation so far. Bird didn’t even common two makes an attempt per recreation again in the day, ending his profession at 1.9.
It’s a case of two completely completely different eras, however it’s nonetheless loopy to see Green go Bird on this list. The manner he’s capturing it this yr (over 43 p.c behind the arc), Green will go just a few extra shooters earlier than it’s all mentioned and achieved. This takes nothing away from what Bird completed, he simply got here alongside at a time when there was nonetheless an emphasis on getting high-percentage seems and never displaying your vary. Had Bird come alongside just a few many years later with such a wide-open recreation, there’s no telling the type of gaudy numbers he would’ve dropped on his ops.
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