For months leading up to 2,974, The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson charted and detailed every single 3-pointer Stephen Curry made since entering the league. The data revealed a portrait of growth for the greatest 3-point shooter ever.
But one 3-pointer stood out, according to Thompson. It came on Halloween of 2015 and, Thompson said on the Murph and Mac Show Wednesday, changed Curry’s approach.
It happened early in the regular season game. New Orleans Pelicans big Anthony Davis guarded Curry on the perimeter in a switch and poked the ball loose. After Curry recovered the ball, he decided to launch instead of attack Davis at the 3-point line.
“He was like 32 feet away,” Thompson said. “AD is standing at the line, he’s got long arms that go on forever. So Steph was like, ‘I’m just going to shoot it from right here. Why go closer to him?’ And he shot it and made it. That triggered in his mind, ‘Okay, if I step out, they aren’t going to know what to do with that.’”
That play was seminal in Curry’s evolution as a scorer. Davis is, too. Curry hit two late 3s in the 2015 playoff first round, and got Davis again from deep and again in the bubble.
After the 2014-15 season, Curry has attempted more 3s from considerably further distances. Of his 2,977 3-pointers, over 120 have come from at least 30 feet away, per Thompson’s data collection.
Like everything for Curry, it didn’t come overnight. Nothing worth the history Curry has earned does.
“That’s kind of Steph’s M.O,” Thompson said. “When you remember Steph, when you remember his legacy, he wants you to remember that he worked for it. It wasn’t all like this natural gift handed down from his dad. Obviously that’s part of it. But he engineered this. That’s the point. He wasn’t this guy. That’s the one thing that stood out to me after watching all his 3s. His shot is even different. But he engineered — this person that we see, this MVP, this all-time great — has been crafted over the years. And it was Anthony Davis that got him shooting deep.”
For the full conversation with Marcus Thompson, including if he thinks anyone will ever catch Curry’s record and his thoughts on the Madison Square Garden atmosphere, check out the Murph & Mac Show here or wherever you get your podcasts.
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