It’s not a secret that Stephen Curry almost single-handedly changed the game of basketball. The sharpshooter altered the NBA, making every team look for shooters, inspiring young players to become 3-point specialists and increasing the number of points scored per game.
Curry is one of the most influential players in NBA history, responsible for reshaping the way teams and coaches view the game. The 2010s was a time of changes for the association, led by the Golden State Warriors superstar. Even though 2019, 2020 and the first part of 2021 weren’t good for his team, the player kept demonstrating his influence in the game.
Seeing logo shots wasn’t the norm in the league until Curry started shooting them. Unless you were going for a buzzer-beater, those shots were incredibly rare to see in the competition.
Well, that changed after Curry landed and started showing his range. NBA Memes shared a collage pic showing what Steph has done to the league. The image contains four players attempting logo shots: LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Steph Curry effect pic.twitter.com/fFPznTsTuo
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) November 5, 2021
Besides these players, we’ve seen others showing their range, including Luka Doncic and James Harden. They called this ‘The Curry Effect’ and it’s hard to disagree with that.
Recently, Kirk Goldsberry wrote a piece for ESPN, ranking the 25 best shooters in NBA history. Steph ranked 1st after breaking records and reaching new levels thanks to his 3-pointers.
Over the first 36 seasons of the 3-point era (starting in 1979-80), no player had made more than 300 3-point shots in a single season. Dennis Scott made 267 in 1995-96, during the NBA’s brief experiment with a shorter line, Ray Allen topped that by two in 2005-06, then Curry came along and broke the record twice, totaling 272 in 2012-13 and 286 in 2014-15. That set the stage for Curry to blow the lid off that record by sinking a previously unthinkable 402 3-pointers in the Warriors’ 73-win season of 2015-16. Over the past decade, Curry has become the Babe Ruth of 3-point shooting, and he’s poised to surpass Ray Allen for most 3s in league history at some point this season.
It’s not hard to find stats that support the claim that Curry is the best shooter ever. Here are a few that make the case pretty well:
Only one player has ever made over 300 3s in a season while also shooting greater than 40% from the field. That would be Curry, who has done it in four separate seasons.
Steph is a master of his craft and every team in the NBA is constantly trying to find their own version of the 2x MVP. His precision is unmatched and rival franchises want to find that gem that can provide Steph-like numbers. He has led the league in points from 26 through 30 feet in the past 25 years, which shows how incredible this guy is.
Alongside Klay Thompson, Curry took the 3PT attempts to unimaginable levels. In the first year of the 3-point era, teams only attempted 3.5 triples per game. That number went up the next decades, reaching all-time highs in the 2020s.
3PTA per decade (via StatMuse):
1980s: 3.5
1990s: 11.4
2000s: 15.7
2010s_ 23.1
2020s: 34.5
Stephen Curry has made 40.5% of his 215 attempts from 30+ feet since 2015-16
Highest 3P% on 30-Footers Since 2015-16
1. Curry …… 40.5%
2. Lillard ….. 33.6%
3. Trae ……. 32.8%
4. LeBron … 29.4%
5. Doncic … 21.5%
6. Harden …20.6%
*min. 100 3PA, heaves excluded pic.twitter.com/PyzL4zttlK
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) October 24, 2021
This season, the league averages 35.8 3-point field goals per game, a number that keeps increasing every year. Steph Curry’s contributions to the game are huge and these new practices, as well as stats, show how important he’s been to the evolution of the NBA.
Curry keeps shocking fans with his displays and that won’t stop anytime soon. We are in front of a generational talent that changed how players, coaches, executives and fans view this sport. The Curry Effect is here and it won’t go soon.
