The explosion in three-point taking pictures ushered in by Stephen Curry, alongside fellow splash bro Klay Thompson, has actually modified the sport everyone knows and love over the previous decade. As soon as Golden State proved that you might win a championship taking part in largely on the perimeter offensively, your entire league tried to observe swimsuit in duplicating that mannequin. Whereas nobody has been in a position to do it fairly like Golden State, what it produced was a whole lot of guys jacking up threes all willy-nilly and setting new information at breakneck velocity. All that mentioned, it’s completely wild to suppose that Draymond Inexperienced will go down in NBA historical past as a extra prolific three-point shooter than Larry Hen.
Nope, that’s no typing error, Inexperienced has leaped over Larry Legend on the all-time three-pointers made checklist. With out context, that every one feels like the largest oxymoron in NBA historical past. However having performed his total profession on this period the place all people jacks up threes at will, Inexperienced has surpassed a participant who’s thought of one of many purest shooters ever to step on a basketball courtroom.
Hen is one in all solely two gamers to win The Affiliation’s annual three-point contest 3 times. Former Chicago Bulls sharpshooter Craig Hodges is the opposite, however Hen was so good at it, that he took the primary three contests the NBA ever held. The Boston Celtics nice additionally took residence three consecutive league MVP awards within the mid-Eighties as effectively. There was simply one thing about Hen and the No. 3.
Larry Legend was one of the crucial feared shooters of the 80s and was identified for trash-talking opponents — calling his shot Babe Ruth fashion, then telling you about it afterward. However having performed in an period the place the additional you had been from the basket, the more serious that shot was thought of, he’s turn out to be considerably of a footnote, statistically, in lots of three-point taking pictures metrics. However if you return and watch Hen, it’s straightforward to see why he was considered as such a risk from anyplace on the courtroom.
None of that is meant to downplay Inexperienced as a result of, figuring out his fashion, it should’ve come as a shock to most discovering out he’d made 650 (and counting) threes throughout his profession. For youthful followers who’ve solely heard Hen’s identify talked about from time-to-time, extra context at all times helps. Makes an attempt per recreation inform a big a part of this story. Inexperienced has averaged 2.6 3-point makes an attempt per recreation up to now. Hen didn’t even common two makes an attempt per recreation again within the day, ending his profession at 1.9.
It’s a case of two completely totally different eras, but it surely’s nonetheless loopy to see Inexperienced go Hen on this checklist. The way in which he’s taking pictures it this yr (over 43 p.c behind the arc), Inexperienced will go just a few extra shooters earlier than it’s all mentioned and achieved. This takes nothing away from what Hen completed, he simply got here alongside at a time when there was nonetheless an emphasis on getting high-percentage appears and never displaying your vary. Had Hen come alongside just a few a long time later with such a wide-open recreation, there’s no telling the type of gaudy numbers he would’ve dropped on his ops.