Steph wants to set an unbreakable 3-pointer record but sees one threat originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
A few days later James Harden has moved past Ray Allen and into second place on the NBA’s career list for 3-pointers made, he shared a hug with the man in first place.
That’s about as close as it gets Stephen Curry wants anyone to reach their constantly updated total.
“You hope to push the number to where – and you know that all records are meant to be broken; that’s how sports work, that’s how life works — but I’m hoping with the volume and accuracy that it might be a number that’s going to be very, very hard to crack,” Curry said on NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Dubs Talk,” which debuted wednesday
“Very similar to what LeBron [James] done with the all-time scoring record. There’s a lot that goes into it, so maybe we can push it forward. Then no one can touch it.”
Until November 19, Curry made 3,788 3-pointers. Harden was at 2,977, four more than previous record holder Ray Allen. The others — Damian Lillard, Reggie Miller and Klay Thompson — surpassed the 2,500 mark, but only Curry climbed Mount 3,000.
There is an opportunity he will climb to 4,000 this season.
“It’s definitely something to look forward to, a sheer number like 4,000,” Curry said. “When I hit 2,974, that was special, knowing that was the all-time record that (Allen) had held for so long. Three thousand was special when I hit that milestone. Even 402 back in the day (2015-16), the single-season record. They all matter because I’m blessed to do this at the highest level. The fact that it’s even within reach is wild to me.”
The numbers are increasing vaguely because the game has changed not only since the turn of the century but also in the decade starting in 2020. Teams averaged, per-game, 2.0 3-pointers from deep in 1980-81. season, pushed it to 13.7 in 2000-01 and is on pace to average about 40 attempts per game this season.
At this rate, Curry, 36, has an outside chance of reaching 5,000 — and that total wouldn’t be safe for long.
Harden, 35, admitted he would never catch Currythat being behind about 800 triples is simply too much to overcome in his final seasons. But there is one person Curry considers a legitimate threat: Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards.
“There’s a lot of (focus) on how much he shoots the ball,” Curry said of his teammate during the 2024 Olympics in Paris. “We talked a little bit this summer with Team USA just about how you develop, your style and how you see the game as you go deeper into your career.
“He’s only 23, so he’s got a long way to go.”
Edwards steps up. He has played 316 games through Nov. 19 and has a league-leading 67 triples this season and 856 in his career. He is likely to zoom past 1,000 this season.
Curry was 26 years old when he reached 1,000, which came in his 369th game.
“Every time you see how guys start the year and the roster I’m on, I think he’s had two years of this amount of 3s in the first (few) games of the season, and he’s third in that list,” Curry said. by Edwards. “The prospect of shooting 3s, the volume that’s going on around every team and around the league, it’s definitely a different world. So, guess anything is possible at this point.
“I wonder how far this can go because it seems to be hitting a breaking point. This style has a threshold or a limit to it. Everyone is playing numbers, and they just want to get up as many as possible. So, so we’ll see how it goes.”
It’s going up, Steph. Three will always be more than two, so the math dictates an increase – at least for the foreseeable future.
