Curry has finally passed RayRay

[BugsyCT]

It was inevitable, but Curry’s now the NBA 3-point king and counting. Ray was a great player & shooter, but SC is from another planet. Congrats to both these guys.

 

[MexicoHusky]

Reminds me of Ricky Henderson breaking the steals record halfway through his career

 

[auror]

Only if you count playoffs

 

[BugsyCT]

Only if you count playoffs

Shouldn't playoffs count though?

 

[husky429]

I wish Ray had been born 10 years later. He would have thrived in this era. His 3 point shooting wasn't appreciated for how much it impacted that game

 

[UConnStats]

I wish Ray had been born 10 years later. He would have thrived in this era. His 3 point shooting wasn't appreciated for how much it impacted that game

Yeah I’d say that’ll particularly apply if/when Klay passes him. Curry’s dexterity makes his shooting even more crazy/flashy where Ray was more of a textbook shooter (or for many of us he wrote the book).

 

[Kitaman]

And lurking in the background . . . .

 

[Chin Diesel]

Reminds me of Ricky Henderson breaking the steals record halfway through his career

Except Curry is well past the halfway point of his career. He's 13 seasons in to his career. I doubt he'd do it but he could probably play another decade if he wanted to do so. Then you'd be closer to halfway point of his career. Another 2-3 years as a high level scorer, 3-4 years as a key contributor and then a few years as a sniper off the bench. I have no idea how much longer he wants to play. He's made $200 million already and has $200 million more through 2025-2026.

On a side note, Ricky's stolen base number is now one of those "Records which will never be broken" records. Nevermind the deemphasis on base stealing overall, Ricky is 150% ahead of second place. And Ricky did most of his damage in the 1980's when base stealing was still a priority in the game. It's one of the more underrated achievements.

 

[UConn990411]

I wish Ray had been born 10 years later. He would have thrived in this era. His 3 point shooting wasn't appreciated for how much it impacted that game

While that’s certainly true, you can say that about a handful of older players such as Larry Bird, Jerry West, etc.

Ray will always go down in history as one of the greatest shooters ever, but Curry impacted the game far more.

 

[Matrim55]

I wish Ray had been born 10 years later. He would have thrived in this era. His 3 point shooting wasn't appreciated for how much it impacted that game

Something I think about a lot is how many of our '90s-era greats would've been even greater today.

• Ray would obviously be S-Tier in the league today with the increased emphasis on 3-point shooting. Not just an All-Star but consistent first or second-team all-NBA.
• Uncle Cliffy would be maybe the best pace-and-space 5 in the league, and is ideal in modern switch-heavy defensive schemes. He'd be on a Hall of Fame track if he was in the league today.
• Donyell had a good career. He'd have a great one these days. 20 years ago he was a "stretch 4" but now he'd just be a "4"
• Burrell is another who would benefit hugely from smallball, switchy defensive schemes and an increased emphasis on 3-point shooting.
• Smitty would've made the league and stayed in it for more than just 3 years, again because of his shooting.
• I think Doron -- a 6-foot-5 floor general with 3-point range -- would've been a first-rounder and thus gotten that guaranteed contract, instead of dropping to the 2nd round and playing his whole career in Israel.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I wish Ray had been born 10 years later. He would have thrived in this era. His 3 point shooting wasn't appreciated for how much it impacted that game

Ive wondered what guys like Ray, Reggie and Glen Rice wouldve done in this era. For instance Steph is averaging 8.7 3pt attempts per game in his career. Those three guys 5.7, 4.7 and 3.9 respectively. Imagine what kind of numbers would those guys have put up if they were taking nearly 9 3s per game!

 

[superjohn]

Ive wondered what guys like Ray, Reggie and Glen Rice wouldve done in this era. For instance Steph is averaging 8.7 3pt attempts per game in his career. Those three guys 5.7, 4.7 and 3.9 respectively. Imagine what kind of numbers would those guys have put up if they were taking nearly 9 3s per game!

Jordan would average 45 ppg now and Bird would he good for around a 32 ppg triple double average.

 

[superjohn]

Something I think about a lot is how many of our '90s-era greats would've been even greater today.

• Ray would obviously be S-Tier in the league today with the increased emphasis on 3-point shooting. Not just an All-Star but consistent first or second-team all-NBA.
• Uncle Cliffy would be maybe the best pace-and-space 5 in the league, and is ideal in modern switch-heavy defensive schemes. He'd be on a Hall of Fame track if he was in the league today.
• Donyell had a good career. He'd have a great one these days. 20 years ago he was a "stretch 4" but now he'd just be a "4"
• Burrell is another who would benefit hugely from smallball, switchy defensive schemes and an increased emphasis on 3-point shooting.
• Smitty would've made the league and stayed in it for more than just 3 years, again because of his shooting.
• I think Doron -- a 6-foot-5 floor general with 3-point range -- would've been a first-rounder and thus gotten that guaranteed contract, instead of dropping to the 2nd round and playing his whole career in Israel.

Rip was hurt the most IMO, he played on some of the slowest pace lowest scoring teams and he would be taking way more threes now.

 

[Kitaman]

I wonder how much Klay has impacted Curry's numbers.

Just saying many of Klay's 3s could probably have been Curry's, if Klay was elsewhere.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Jordan would average 45 ppg now and Bird would he good for around a 32 ppg triple double average.

Its funny how when you tell a young person that Jordan would problably average 40ppg in todays game they think youre crazy. I tell my nephews and they see the highlights but theres still this disconnect that they dont have a clue how great he really was.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Shouldn't playoffs count though?

PLAYOFFS?! PlayyyyyOFFFFSSS?

 

[UCTitleTown]

Curry will leave Ray in the dust on this one. He's got at least 3-4 more seasons in him and the 3 is his game. With that said, records in the NBA are so skewed by the era, introduction of 3 point shot length, length of seasons, number of playoff rounds etc. over the years. Sometimes it seems ridiculous to compare players and records.

 

[nomar]

Shouldn't playoffs count though?

I don't think so. 714 was 714 etc.

Not saying it's not a relevant stat/accomplishment of its own, but when I think of "career" numbers, I think regular season.

 

[auror]

I don't think so. 714 was 714 etc.

Not saying it's not a relevant stat/accomplishment of its own, but when I think of "career" numbers, I think regular season.

Yeah total numbers including playoffs start to bias all stats towards players on great teams. Obviously good players make good teams and so it's a reasonable take that it's a good kind of bias. But for career numbers like these, I like a level playing field. Longevity obviously changes the playing field, but at least that's an individual skill ("availability is a skill").

 

[ucp990411]

Where did the nickname RayRay come from?

 

[Ratso]

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Not a fan of including playoffs. Ray was on some ass teams in Milwaukee and Seattle. Curry has probably cumulatively played multiple extra seasons worth of playoff games.

 

[jleves]

Really doesn't matter if you include playoffs or not. He's going to pass Ray this year for regular season 3s. He's only 74 behind and has made 67 in the first 13 games.

Ray 2973 in 1300 regular season games.
Curry 2899 in 775 regular season games.

 

[J187Money]

Really doesn't matter if you include playoffs or not. He's going to pass Ray this year for regular season 3s. He's only 74 behind and has made 67 in the first 13 games.

Ray 2973 in 1300 regular season games.
Curry 2899 in 775 regular season games.

Exactly. Would love to have our guy keep the all-time lead, but saw this coming many years ago. Steph is the best shooter I've ever seen.

 

[MJ1]

Jordan was not a great 3 point shooter, driving and mid range was his bread and butter.