Who Are The Top 5 Shooters In NBA History?

the ability to shoot the basketball has become the skill that separates the good players from the great players it's invaluable in today's NBA it's what makes Stephen Curry his most dangerous self on offense the ability to cross half court pull up and knock down deep threes forces the defense to pick him up 40 plus feet from the basket not every great shooter has this ability it's what separates Steph from the other great Shooters and is part of the reason he's the greatest shooter ever if there's one basketball take I see almost every basketball fan agree with it's the fact that Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter ever where the debate gets heated is with the rest of the top five it is with good reason similarly to how there are about 10 to 12 wide receivers who have strong cases to be called top five wide receivers in the NFL there are like 10 to 12 Elite Shooters who have a strong case to be in the top five figuring out exactly which five wasn't easy this is the criteria I used volume efficiency from the 3point line free throw line and mid-range difficulty of shots shooting success off the dribble or on ball shooting ability and catch and shoot which is off ball shooting and the distance of shots you don't need me to give you a long explanation for why Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter of all time but quite honestly I want to take every chance I can to celebrate greatness so I'm going to give you the rundown hey maybe someone is new to basketball and this is the first time they've heard of Stephen Kirk Steph is the all-time leader in three-pointers made he has the record for most three-pointers made in a season at 402 and he revolutionized the game to the point where everyone is trying to emulate Stephen Curry Curry isn't just great from three-point range he's also proficient from mid-range making 48.3% of his mid-range shots for his career Steph is so great at shooting he one shot 100% from the free throw line for a season he did only play five games and take 26 free throw attempts That season due to injury but still impressive nonetheless he's led the league and made three-pointers seven times the next closest player on that list Ray Allen accomplishing that feat just three times he's currently first alltime in free throw percentage has 1549 90 season which only nine players can say that they have is a two-time Three-Point Contest champion and routinely makes 30 foot 3s look stepless for several seasons Steph has been in the NBA he has been the number one on his team that brings constant defensive attention even just last season the 2223 season LeBron left Klay Thompson another Elite shooter wide open just so he could continue to defend Stephen Curry he's just that lethal of a shooter step on this list or even at number one isn't a surprise let's move on to the heated part of the debate some of you might be too young to know about this Ray Allen right into the face of the traffic defense jammed Allen Ray Allen with a but yes there was a time when Ray Allen was baptizing NBA players you might be thinking because Ray Allen had this type of athleticism and dunking ability that meant he didn't develop his jump shot until later in his career but Noe Ray Allen was always a sniper Ray Allen's consistency as a sharpshooter is what allowed owed him to continue his career and as he got older propelled him into the Hall of Fame even when his athleticism diminished he was still a valuable asset to any team Ray Allen is a career 40% three-point shooter 89.4% from the free throw line and played before the switch to the modern style of taking as many threes as humanly possible led the league and three-pointers made three times putting him second all time in that category and if he wanted to I would be willing to bet he could suit up and make the necessary 27 threes to get his career total to 3,00 000 the most shocking fact to me about Ray Allen is the fact that Ray Allen never led the league in free throw percentage if there was one shot to epitomize Ray Allen's career and ability as a shooter it would have to be the greatest shot in NBA history there are only a handful of players in the history of the NBA that would get a last second shot opportunity over Reggie Miller the dude simply had ice in his veins despite playing in an era that neglected the three ball Reggie Miller still managed to make 2563 pointers in his career which is currently good for fourth all time and was first all time at the time he retired given he was a career 39.5% shooter from the three-point line it's safe to assume had Reggie Miller played in today's game he would be even closer to Steph Curry's alltime total if not in first place himself Reggie is also a member of the prestigious 50490 club and was reliable both on Ball and off ball I said in my most skilled video that Steph was one of the players or potentially the only player who could play off ball at the same level as on ball that was clearly a gross oversight I'll stick with my take that Steph is one of the only players to be able to play off ball as well as on ball I mean he has played or is playing on ball at a top three level and off ball at a top three level we can't say that about many players I would say Reggie Miller was a better off-ball player than an on ball player one metric does support that of the seasons the stat was counted Reggie Miller was assisted on 87.5% of his made threes but that split blitting hairs the fact is Reggie Miller was good at both on ball offense and off ball offense he deserves his credit most won't have a problem with the top three outlined all of these guys are or were exceptional Shooters when I look at the last two spots in the top five I see multiple players who could be argued for these spots Steve Nash was a walking 50490 player he had four seasons of 50490 and was a less than one percentage point away in multiple Seasons from having more 50 4090 Seasons he missed in 200 6 2007 by a thousandth of a percentage point for free throw shooting less than one percentage point in 2010 2011 in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage an 11 and 12 in 3point percentage in free throw percentage and in 1213 in field goal percentage damn near 7 straight seasons of 50 4090 I value volume to some degree and because of that Steve Nash is not on this list Kyrie Irving one of nine players to have a 50490 season a career 39% three-point shooter and an 88% free throw shooter but he he also doesn't have the necessary volume Dirk nitzki the greatest shooting power forward ever Mark Price JJ reick Kyle corver chony bips piao yovich all have legitimate cases to be on this list but what about Larry Bird the guy who Pat Riley said and I quote if I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game I choose Michael Jordan if I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life i' take Larry bir that has to be the coldest line I've ever heard Larry Legend is also the guy who after already winning two three-point contests walked into the locker room before his third contest said who's coming in second then went out and won the contest with his warmup jacket still on bird was also a master of the mid-range game and was a career 37.6% three-point shooter but as I stated earlier volume matters to me it's not Larry's fault for playing in an era that didn't shoot a high volume of Threes it's also not his fault that his back wouldn't cooperate at later stages of his career as I said with Reggie Miller I have no doubt in my mind Larry Bird had he played in this era would be a unanimous top five shooter all time but he just barely misses this list the splash Bros Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on fire or Pete clay I'm taking over every player on this list excluding Stephen Curry from scoring 37 points in one quarter fting back from not one but two devastating injuries shooting 40% from three in every full season but one showing up when it matters most in game sixes to taking just 11 dribbles and scoring 60 points in 29 minutes Klay Thompson is one of the greatest Shooters of all time and he's not on this list it's really close for both bird and Clay but neither guy makes the top five playay has never been a number one option on his team every player on this list has at one point in their career been a first option because he isn't a first option Claymore consistently gets open shots and good looks at the basket his energy expenditure on offense isn't the same as the other players on this list to give Klay his credit he is an all NBA Defender playing impactful defense will definitely tire out the legs what I've watched and the numbers tell me clay doesn't frequently create his own shot opportunities for his career he has been assisted on 92.6% of his threes he doesn't have to shoot off the dribble the same way the other guys on this list have to can he do it absolutely just not at the level of the other players on this list free throw shooting is one of the most important barometers of a top five shooter it's not just three-point shooting in comparison to the other guys on this list Cay just isn't as good of a free throw shooter he shoots just 85% from the line because of his free throw shooting he's never had a single 50490 season either it was difficult and it pains me not to have the guy with the prettiest jump shot I've ever seen or either of the two players who routinely make or have made clutch jumpers on this list but the two guys at spots four and five have cases Just a Little Bit Stronger also I just wanted to add that this has nothing to do with Clay's early season struggles this year clay frequently starts a season a little cold and gets hot as the season progresses fourth on this list of top five Shooters all time is Damen Lillard some might say that Dame's three-point percentage at just 37.2% is a Smoking Gun because it's lower than some of the other players that could be here but despite leading the NBA in distance for three-point attempts Dame still makes threes at a high clip barring anything unforeseen Dame is going to move into fourth place in three-point makes by the end of this season passing Reggie Miller he will only be Trail Stephen Curry Ray Allen and James Harden Dame is also an excellent free throw shooter currently fourth all time at 89.5% Dame's placement here is more than just the total volume or efficiency metrics there are only a few players that can take and make shots from the distance that Dame does Stephen Curry being one of those players much the same way that Curry has been a primary option for his team playing both on Ball and off ball Dame has been the primary option for his team getting added attention thrown at him getting this extra attention attention means that Dame has to exert more energy on the offensive end which leads to tired legs making it difficult to continue to shoot well of the players in contention to be on this list the only players with higher usage rates for their careers are Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving Damen Lillard has a ton of responsibility on the offensive end and during his career so far he hasn't had the luxury of spotting up for extended periods of games of Damen Lillard's made Theses only 46% have been assisted in the regular season for his career of his made twos only 20% have been assisted in the regular season for comparison sake I mentioned it before of Klay Thompson's made 3es 92.6% have been assisted on in the regular season and of his made twos 69.3% have been assisted on in the regular season for both players those rates stay relatively the same in the playoffs Dame has to create more opportunities off the dribble for himself in order to get good open shots or he has to make contested shots despite the added difficulty he manages to continue to shoot at or above the level of other Elite Shooters just avert your eyes until he gets back on track this season I've mentioned it several times now because only nine players have done it Kevin Durant is on the list of players to have shot 50490 for a season well actually that's not 100% true Durant is one of three players to have multiple 50 4090 Seasons the others Nash with four and Larry Bird with two of all the players in contention for spots on this list KD has the highest usage rate now you could look at that in two ways you could say as I will that his increased usage rate means more Demand on the body or you could argue that because of his high usage rate KD has more opportunity to make shots therefore giving him a chance to accumulate greater stats I would say the correct answer is both both both both even with more opportunity a player still has to make shots Durant makes shots Durant is a career 47.2% mid-range shooter for comparison's sake Klay Thompson shoots 43.1% for his career in the last 25 Seasons with a minimum of 250 field goal attempts Durant has three of the top four seasons in terms of mid-range percentage last season the 2022 2023 season he made 56% of his mid-range jumpers Durant is also a phenomenal free throw shooter making 88.5% of his chances at the line he also shoots the three ball at a high clip as well at 38.5% and has a chance to move into the top 20 all time in threes may he just has to pass his active teammate Eric Gordon Kevin Durant is an all-time great shooter that's not up for debate is he top five just ask the players defending him who are literally putting a hand in his face and he's still knocking it down if Kevin Durant is a top five shooter all time thank you for your time if I can't get in his body and I can't really affect him then he's like it's nothing else to do but I'm not bothering his shot KD nah I don't think I ever a I don't think I've to this day I don't think I've changed his shot ever

Channel: DetectiveArgument

Views: 33,501

Keywords: Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Steph Curry, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki, Mark Price, Larry Bird, Larry Legend, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Steve Nash, NBA, Sports, Top 5 NBA Shooters, Damian Lillard, Peja Stojakovic, Chauncey Billups, JJ Redick, Stephortless, Steve Kerr, Kyle Korver

Id: sLgfx6o3GAs

Length: 13min 8sec (788 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 24 2023