
Congratulations to Steph Curry on creating a new club that may never have another member: The 4K 3-POINT CLUB!
In the third quarter of the Warriors win over the Sacramento Kings, the greatest shooter of all time knocked down a three between two defenders and became the first player in NBA history to make 4,000 career threes. If you count the Playoffs, you can add another 618 (117 more than any other player in NBA history).
To put 4,000 threes in perspective, consider only 17 players have ever made 2,000. He has double that. Of those 17 players, only one of them has over 3,000. That person is James Harden, with 3,127. If Harden (who is playing spectacularly of late) somehow maintained his average of three 3-pointers a game, the Beard would have to play 291 more games to join Curry's Club. I don't see that happening, but he may prove me wrong in 2030 when he's in Year 20.
MOST CAREER THREES (games played)
Ant was the youngest player (23) to reach 1,000 career threes and is the only player besides Curry averaging over four threes this season?
If Ant can average 250 threes a season, he should be able to join Curry's club in 12 seasons. I don't see him (or any current superstar), who will soon make over $50M a year, playing for 17 years in the league.
If Ant proves me wrong (I hope he does), then Curry will only have to wait until he's 48 years old to have some company. By then, Curry might have left to create the 5K Club. During a recent interview with 957 The Game, he was asked how many more years he has left in the tank. His response: "I know my contract is lined up, and I’d like to outplay that, for sure.”
In the meantime, let's look at No. 30's road to 4,000 threes by revisiting 30 of his most iconic ones.
You might be surprised to hear that Curry failed to make a three in his first NBA game despite playing 35 minutes. More surprising, he only attempted a single three in the loss to the Rockets.
In his second game, he faced off against Steve Nash and the remaining members of the "Seven Seconds or Less" Suns. With a little more than a minute left before the half, Curry loses Nash and then knocks down a three over the hand of Lou Amundson.
Without hesitation, the announcer says Curry is "one of the best pure shooters you're ever going to see come out of college."
Nash went on to work with Curry between 2015 and 2020 as a player Development Consultant for the Warriors. He left to become the head coach in Brooklyn, where he had this amusing quote:
“When I first started playing against him, there might have been a little bit of big-brother-little-brother where I felt like I had the upper hand. By the time I was going out of the league, it was like I had no business being on the court with him."
Remember when you didn't know who Draymond Green was? On this night in MSG, the 2nd-round draft pick got the start and finished with 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 fouls.
Those numbers were slightly better than his rookie averages of 3 points and 3 boards and just a tad less than what Curry did: 54 points, 11 threes, 7 assists, and six rebounds in 48 minutes.
He celebrated one of those 11 threes by shimmying and skipping down the court and right past a hand-raising Draymond, who was hoping for a high five.
The Knicks got the W behind 35 points from Melo and 28 boards from Tyson Chandler.
The first lookaway three of his career happened during Game 4 of the 2013 Playoffs vs the Denver Nuggets.
STEPH: "The third quarter happened. We were on this crazy run knocking shots down left and right. I was right in front of Denver's bench, JaVale McGee was standing up with five or six guys around him, he got the ball in the corner.
In that situation, when you rise up, everybody is just talking trash behind you. For some reason, I got that out-of-body experience. I shot it, and I never had a shot feeling better than that.
Turned around, I kind of looked at JaVale, and just ran off, and it went in. I didn't even check to see if it went in, I was waiting for the noise."
TY LAWSON: "The shimmy pissed me off at first. And it was against us when he started doing the turnaround thing. N**** turned around and I'm looking at the ball and him. And he says, 'Boom!'"
Shout out to Ty Lawson, who had 26 points in that game and averaged 25 points and 10 assists in Games 2 through 5.
Curry came out blazing with 12 points in the first two and a half minutes against a sad Lakers starting line-up of Kobe Bryant, Wesley Johnson, Jordan Hill, Carlos Boozer, and Steve Nash.
Curry's best bucket of the night was his last. Midway through the third quarter, Curry stumbled with Kobe guarding him, got back up, pushed Kobe back, and then knocked down a three.
Kobe just smiled and slapped Curry on the butt as they went back down the court.
Both stars sat out the final quarter of the Warriors 41-point win. Kobe finished with just six points on 3-of-13 shooting, and Curry had 25 on 8-of-11.
When Curry made his 1,000th career three after five seasons, he did it faster than anyone in NBA history (88 fewer games than Dennis Scott). Considering he's made 3,000 over the following ten, that first 1,000 sounds slow for him.
The reason for the "slow start" is that Curry averaged less than five three-point attempts over his first three seasons. It wasn't until his 7th season that he started taking 10+.
Jeff Van Gundy said Steph's move and three over CP3 and the Clippers might be "the greatest move I've ever seen."
After the Warriors 6th straight home win, Steve Kerr said, "Nothing he does surprises me anymore."
Curry's take: "I got a little bit of breathing room. Just a confidence shot."
Despite the confidence, Curry struggled to make shots on this night. He missed 6-of-9 and didn't make his first until midway through the second quarter.
"It's amazing what Steph Curry can do with the basketball."
I'm not sure Steph even saw the rim when he launched his second-three attempt over Anthony Davis' long arms. I just know I had the same reaction and Dell and Seth after it forced OT.
The Warriors outscored the Pelicans 39-19 in the 4th quarter and 15-11 in OT. Of course, Steph started the OT with another three. He finished the game with 40 and scored 39 in the following game to eliminate the Pelicans from the first round.
Here's a conversation about Matthew Dellevedova's great effort against Curry during the 2015 NBA Finals.
SMITH: "Delly almost died guarding Steph Curry. Literally almost died. We have footage of this man in the ice tub, like, literally to his neck."
JJ REDICK: "F*** he tried. He battled his a** off. Like competed."
SMITH: "He literally gave everything he had and there was no excuse. He could barely talk after. That's how hard he was trying."
The best three over Delly was in the final three minutes of Game 5, when he made Mike Breen yell, "WOW!"
FUN STAT: Delly hit the floor 12 times in Game 3 and doctors put an IV into his arm after the game when he suffered a full-body cramp.
How well do you think a 37-year-old Dirk Nowtizki could guard Steph during one of his MVP seasons?
I actually think old Dirk did a decent job here, and what can you do when the greatest shooter ever is banking in turnaround threes from the baseline?
The real story of this game was that Klay had 10 threes on his way to a game-high 39, and the Warriors record was now at 62-6!
After missing the first three games of the Warriors' 2nd-round series against the Blazers with a sprained knee, Curry came off the bench and outscored the Blazers 17-14 in overtime!
The best moment of that extra session was when he started yelling "I'm back" after knocking down 3 of his 40 points.
Klay: "You knew he'd catch his rhythm eventually. He's probably the best player in the world, the best shooter of all time."
As an encore, he put up 29 and 11 as the Warriors eliminated the Blazers in Game 5.
Mike Breen has been getting generous with the double bangs. His "Bang! Bang!" on Mikal Bridges' game-winner this week was his 5th in the last two years.
Before 2024, he only said it five times in the previous eight years. It all started on February 27th, 2016, when Curry knocked down a game-winning 32-footer in OT.
You've got a sense of, I've shot the shot plenty of times, you're coming across half court and timing up your dribbles, and you want to shoot before the defense goes in. And that was pretty much my only thought."
Everyone remembers this shot but I think most forget how great Steph was in this game before the shot. He had 43 points and was 11-of-15 from three before the double bang. He also left the game in the first half with an ankle sprain.
Draymond had one of the more interesting stat lines you will ever see: 2 points (0/8 shooting), 14 rebounds, 14 assists, 6 steals, 4 blocks.
Considering Curry hasn't reached 400 again, his 402 threes in a single season might be an untouchable record.
There have only been seven instances of a player making 300 threes in a season (five of those seven are Curry) and only two cases of a player making over 350.
Harden's 378 might sound close, but if a player is averaging four threes a game, six additional games would be needed to make up the difference. That's a lot.
As for the game, the biggest story wasn't Steph's 46 points in 29 minutes or 402 threes on the season. The major headline was the Warriors became the first team in NBA history to win 73 games in the regular season.
This is where Scottie Pippen pulls out his t-shirt that says, "Don't mean a thing without a ring."
I don't agree, but I did enjoy that 3-1 comeback by the Cavs.
Steph struggled from three and the Warriors only scored 86 in the loss. Why is this on the list? I love trash-talking Steph, and watching him point multiple times at rookie Jaylen Brown, and his high-top fade cracks me up.
Brown had a shot at revenge when the Celtics played the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, but that ended with another ring and a Finals MVP award for Curry (more about that later).
This win was supposed to be a game worth celebrating.
After taking five seasons to make 1,000 career threes, it only took Curry another two years to reach 2,000, a feat only seven players have done before him.
But in the final quarter, he rolled his right ankle and missed 11 straight games.
Fewest games to reach 2,000 at that time
I will leave the recap of this moment to YouTuber Basketball IQ. I'm not saying this is precisely what happened in Game 2 of the 2018 NBA Finals, but it's so amusing that I will accept it did.
"Steph Curry was walking backwards along the sideline when an oversized, overpaid, useless Cavs player named Kendrick Perkins appeared, with his oversized, overpaid, useless knees in the way.
After bumping into him, Curry turned around to ask him politely to get the f**k out of the way, as Perkins stood up and attempted to come up with a valid reason for why he still hasn't received a Cavaliers Jersey.
After getting in each other's face for a brief moment, Curry asked him, "Waddup big fella?" and Perkins was lost for words, staring intensely as he often does.
No technicals or other violations were assessed (good work, refs), and Curry went on to end the game almost single-handedly with 5 3's, including 1 shot clock buzzer-beating, Hail Mary moonshot over Kevin Love, and a 4-point play in the corner... again over Kevin Love."
I find it funny that people have been shrugging long before any player mentioned in this post was born. But after Michael Jordan did it during the 1992 NBA Finals, every time a player celebrates a tough shot with a shrug, it's a "Michael Jordan shrug."
Kobe has done it. LeBron has done it. And Stephen Curry did it against John Wall and the Wizards during a 51-point performance. The Wizards' defense was so good that the Warriors only scored 144 in regulation.
The Rockets held Curry to 0 points in the first half! 0! The first time in 102 career playoff games. Then they watched him score 33 points in the final two quarters, including a playoff career-high 23 in the 4th.
During an amusing appearance on Andre Iguodala's POINT FORWARD PODCAST, PJ Tucker talked about Steph's performance:
"I feel like he wasn't even looking at the basket. Is he serious? Like he disrespected me. Like dead a**, he disrespectful.
I should also mention that Curry had a dislocated finger on his left hand.
Curry's handles are probably underrated. Despite Allen Iverson saying Curry has more handles than him, most people never mention him when discussing the best handles in the league.
That's probably because he doesn't have many "made the defender touch earth" clips. And some of those clips doesn't involve his handles.
This is one of those clips. All it took was a single jab step to send Justin Jackson flying.
The three was also his 10th of the game. This is also a good time for me to mention that Steph has the record for most games with 10+ threes (26). The next closest is Klay, with nine.
Curry started the game hot with 21 in the first quarter and 30 by the half. We have seen this a million times.
A player had 30 in the first half and we say, "He's going for 60 tonight!" One thing or another happens, and usually, the player fails to score 50.
Not Curry on this night. The 32-year-old, in his 12th season, finished with a career-high 62. The last bucket of that 62 was a falling to the ground three.
The 62 also broke the franchise record of 60 set by teammate Klay Thompson. Obviously, Klay was cool with it and posted the following on his IG: "Welcome to the Club big bro."
That 60-point club has 37 members. Only 10 of those 37 have scored 60 more than once and Steph is one of them. You can probably guess who the President of the club is.
Lookaway threes are great, but lookaway threes, followed by a point at a fan before the ball swishes through the net, is next level confidence. That is exactly what Curry did in this 26-point win over the Bulls.
Curry had an incentive to put on a show in this game—no, not that fan. Davidson coach Bob McKillop was in the house, and this is what he had to say about his former player:
“You cannot believe how many people in our town stay up and watch West Coast games because Stephen Curry's playing in the game. They're up ‘til 1 in the morning.
You see people in the post office the next day, you see them in the coffee shop the next day and their eyes are droopy because, ’Oh, I was up last night watching Steph play.'
What an affirmation and validation of the impact he has had on our community that people of all ages are doing that to this day.”
Whenever someone asks me who is the nicest NBA player I've ever met and who is the biggest a**hole, I always say it's shocking how nice and down-to-earth Curry is.
Because he is so nice, seeing angry Steph on the court is always a treat. The person who angered him this night was the referee who gave him a tech early in the fourth quarter after a no-call.
Curry responded by scoring 11 of his 33 in the final minutes.
The best moment in those final moments is when he knocked down a baseline three over three Clippers, then celebrated by calling a tech as the announcer yelled, "He's gone psycho!"
Steve Kerr: “That was as upset as I've seen him and that I have been in a long time."
It was inevitable that Curry would become the all-time leader in threes. And it was awesome that it happened at MSG, where so many iconic moments happen.
It was also awesome that the NBA had Reggie Miller on the call and Ray Allen in the building when Curry knocked down three-pointer No. 2,974.
Steph: “If you can’t do it at home, this is definitely a great Plan B."
Didn't we just celebrate Curry becoming the 8th player in NBA history to join the 2K Club? Yes, that was just four years earlier, and keep in mind that he missed a season during that span.
Just 14 days after breaking Ray Allen's record for most career threes, Curry matched his own NBA record of consecutive games with a three (157) and created the 3K Club.
Looking back at the video of the historic three, the first thing that pops into my head is how much I miss Facu Campazzo and his fancy passes.
The NBA All-Star game has been a forgettable, if not awful, event for years. One of the few highlights from the recent ones was Curry's record-breaking three-point show in 2022 when he made 16!
Watching Curry top his threes with double stepbacks and lookaways from the logo was exciting, but watching Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, and Reggie Miller lock arms and go crazy at the scorer's table was priceless.
The joy they were experiencing reminded us of the joy that is possible in these games.
Watch Giannis' reaction to Curry running back at the 1:00 mark.
Curry knew the series was over midway through the third quarter of Game 6 when he knocked down a three and pointed at his finger as the Warriors took a 22-point lead.
During the replay, Curry's original coach, Mark Jackson, pulled out his trademark, "Mama, there goes that man" and followed it by saying, "Put a ring on it."
It was Curry's 4th championship in 8 years.
“This one hits differently for sure, knowing what the last three years meant, what it’s been like," an emotional Curry said. “Injuries, the changing of the guard, rosters, the young guys. Now, we got four championships. Me, Dray, Klay, and Andre."
And this is what Curry had to say about his first NBA Finals MVP award: "Finally got that bad boy."
I'm a terrible lip reader. Every time I see a "leaked audio" video from Legendz, I'm like, "That's what he said?"
What I do know is Curry was returning from a 3-game absence due to a sprained ankle, scored 31, and had something to say to former teammate D'Angelo Russell, who wasn't even in the game.
Did he really tell Dlo to "Get your b**** a** on the court?"
I'm just going to trust the lip readers and say he did.
“Steph is Steph. He’s just amazing,” Steve Kerr said after the win. “He got off to a slow start, but he never worries and we never worry.”
Dlo also had this amusing thing to say on the RUN YOUR PACE podcast about his time with the Warriors: “The worst thing that I could’ve done was play for the Warriors. To see how Steph Curry prepares. Are you kidding me, bro? His practices, like he practices every shot, like off the ball, right hand, behind the back. Like you warming up, he’s practicing half-court shots. Seeing his prep made me really wanna be like alright, I can shoot from anywhere."
I wasn't the only one thinking Team USA might be leaving the 2024 Olympics without the Gold. But the NBA's Clutch Player Of The Year felt otherwise. Curry made four of his eight threes in the final three minutes to help USA beat France 98-87 and win their fifth consecutive Gold medal.
The "Golden Dagger" came with 32 seconds left in the game and was followed by Curry running down the court doing the "NUIT NUIT" celebration.
The funniest thing about Curry's French version of his celebration is he actually trademarked "NUIT NUIT" in the US.
The funniest thing about Curry's performance is that the French broadcast referred to him as the devil.
One last funny thing: McDonalds in France stopped serving curry sauce.
"You miss it here!"
"You better stay here!"
"This is my s*** here!"
Again, I'm awful at reading lips, but Curry had some variation of the above to say after hitting a dagger three in Klay Thompson's return to Golden State.
Curry finished the game with a game-high 37 points, including the team's final 12. His Splash Brother, Klay, had 22 in front of the crowd wearing Captain hats in honor of him.
What else can be said about the greatest shooter of all-time? Not much, but everything said in response to this logo three will do:
"Ridiculous! A cheat code! Steph Curry is not human!"
"Oh baby, that was absolutely unbelievable, but when it's Steph Curry, you know, there's always a chance. My goodness."
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