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I know what you’re thinking: “Chill, Tom.” Steph Curry broke the record for all-time career three-pointers made on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden where he hit his 2,974th three-pointer while leading his Warriors in a win over the Knicks.
All said, he ended the night with a grand total of 2,977; passing Ray Allen for first place on the all-time list.
So, is it too soon to think about what the future holds for said record? Probably. But, we’re NetsDaily, so...away we go!
In 4th place on the all-time made threes list sits James Harden, with 2,509. That’s more than 400 threes behind Curry, but (yes, but!), Harden is a coin-flip of a season younger than Curry. Meaning, he’s 32 and Curry is 33 years old - which doesn’t make him much younger, but it’s possible that he can play an additional season or two over Curry, right? Or, on the flip, Curry could potentially play an additional year or two on the other end.
Is it possible that, ultimately, Harden could pass Curry on the all-time list? Let’s dig in a little.
Harden has more milage on his legs, playing over 31,000 minutes over his career to Curry’s 27,000-plus minutes. Some of that, though, is due to Curry sustaining some serious injuries. over the years. I hate calling anyone fragile, these are supreme athletes - there’s no such thing as a fragile athlete - but with any player you have to consider, especially into their 30s, that injuries are possible.
The biggest knock on Harden is that he’s a career 36.3 percent shooter from beyond the arc, while Curry is more efficient at 43.1 percent. The efficiency rates are pretty glaring, however, the all-time leader in 3-pointers made cares NOT about your efficiency.
It’s all about getting those attempts up, baby. Get those shots up.
Over his career, Harden is averaging 7.7 threes per game, while Curry is averaging...oh, 8.7 per game. After averaging nearly 12 threes per game in his final three full seasons in Houston, Harden has averaged just 7.3 threes per game during his entire tenure with the Nets.
Curry, on the other hand, keeps shooting more - and more. He’s averaging a career-high 13.4 threes per game this season, after shooting a career-best 12.7 attempts per game last season.
Harden has only once in his career made over 300 threes in the regular season; Curry has already done that four times during his career and is on pace to do it again this season.
That would require, at this pace, about two full additional seasons worth of games played for Harden to catch Curry - that is IF they keep the same pace and Harden stays within 500 threes by time Curry retires.
Ok, so where does that net us?
It appears as if Curry is going to continue to settle into his role as a bulk 3-point shooter in these final years of his career, while Harden at this moment is settled into the role of team playmaker while Kyrie Irving is out.
Who knows what the future will hold? Without Joe Harris and Kyrie do the Nets need Harden to shoot more threes? Do they need him to continue to do his damage around the basket? Remember, he’s getting about twice as many free-throw attempts per game as Steph Curry is.
What do NBA fans think? Does Curry’s record fall - and fall soon? Or is there no shot that anyone, with Harden really the only current player with a legitimate shot to catch him, likely to fall short?
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What do you think?
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