Stephen Curry Solidifies His NBA Legacy With History Making Three at MSG

Within the framework of NBA history, Tuesday December 13, 2021 will surely go down as one of the league’s many “Where were you when…?” moments.

Some will answer that they enjoyed the experience from the comfort of their home. Others will say they were amongst friends and strangers alike in a local sports bar. But a lucky few will be able to say that they were in attendance to witness Stephen Curry pass Hall of Famer Ray Allen for the most NBA three-pointers made in league history.

For Curry, most would consider this to be yet another career defining moment in what has been an unbelievable 13-year career thus far. But this feat goes way beyond that.

Since coming out of the University of Dayton at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, Curry has never had the elite athleticism that many of the greats who came before him had. Nevertheless, he was able to forge a pathway for himself as a distance shooter and in turn single handedly influenced the trajectory of NBA offense to help it become what it is today.

Last night’s accomplishment is not only a representation of how far he has come, but how far the league has come because of him. With that being said, let’s take a closer look at last night’s spectacle and reflect on the rise of Stephen Curry.

Before we can really get a true understanding and appreciation for what transpired, we must first look at how we got there.

Anticipation for Curry’s history-making moment truly began to pick up steam this past Saturday as the Warriors took on Joel Embiid and Philadelphia 76ers. The count was down to only ten left to break the record and with every three made he only inched closer.

Despite taking 14 threes, he only hit three in route to finishing with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the 102-92 loss.

Then came Monday and the count was then down to seven as the Warriors prepared for the Indiana Pacers. Considering this season Curry is averaging just over five made threes a game, most assumed this was the night he would clear the hurdle.

Instead, he finished shooting only 5-of-15 from three but did finish with 26 points in the 102-100 victory secured by center Kevon Looney’s game-winning layup in the final moments.

Two left. Two threes away from cementing himself as the greatest shooter of all-time. No longer would such hyperbole just come in the form of an early morning rant from ESPN First Take’s Stephen A. Smith or banter in the barbershop. Instead, the record books would reflect such greatness as he takes his rightful place at the top of the leaderboard.

Following the Pacers victory, Curry said something that resonates even more now following this momentous achievement. When talking to NBA analyst and former knockdown three-point shooter Dennis “3D” Scott, he alluded to his journey and expressed what it felt like to be so close.

“I’m just blessed man,” Curry said. “I know how much work has gone into this and like I said it will happen when it happens. But I’m just happy to play the game that I love, play it at a high level. You know respect all the great shooters that have come through the league…and just enjoy the moment because it’s been a long time coming in terms of something keying on for a while.”

Which brings us to last night in New York. Outside of maybe getting it done in front of the home crowd, truthfully this was easily the best place that fit his story.

It was the New York Knicks who were one pick too late in the 2009 NBA Draft as they were forced to watch Golden State take Curry 7th overall. Curry even admitted on the All The Smoke Podcast hosted by former Golden State Warriors players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson that entering the draft, he wanted to be a Knick.

“I wanted to go to New York and thought I was going to New York,” Curry said. “At the draft – in the green room – like ‘oh, get to the eight spot and New York can get me.’ And then I got the call from [Golden State Warriors General Manager] Larry Riley, like ‘We’re going to pick you in the seventh spot.”

 Not to mention that for those who do not remember, it was February 27th, 2013, where Stephen Curry announced to the world that he had arrived.

Despite the Warriors losing the matchup 109-105, he finished the game with 54 points, six rebounds and seven assists all while hitting 11-of-13 from three. That was nearly a decade ago and even with all of his most recent success, that still sits as the second-highest scoring performance of his career behind only his 62-point performance in a win over the Miami Heat last season.

If that isn’t enough storyline build up as it is, let’s talk about all the great performances by the league’s greats under the roof of Madison Square Garden. Just to name a few:

–   The late-great Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant dropped 61 in the Garden which sits as the third best scoring performance of his 20-year career.

–   NBA legend and perceived best player in league history Michael Jordan dropped 55 in the 1994-95 season just prior to leading the Chicago Bulls to their second three-peat.

–   New York Knicks hero and Top-10 all-time scorer Carmelo Anthony dropped what still stands as a career-high 62 points at the Garden in a win over the then Charlotte Bobcats.

–   Back in 2009 LeBron James erupted for 52 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds which cracks the Top-5 in his long list of regular season season-highs

Need I go on? The point is that when it comes to basketball fate, this is where he was supposed to get the job done. Not in Philly. Not in Indiana. But in NYC, under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden with Reggie Miller calling the game and Ray Allen in attendance.

That’s the storybook ending this feat needed. That’s the storybook ending this feat deserved.

To wrap this up, I just want to put something in perspective. In today’s NBA, the three-point shot is king in ways that we have never seen. We have had great shooters come through this league from Larry Bird to Reggie Miller to Ray Allen to JJ Reddick and Kyle Korver and so on.

But in the last 20 years, the three-ball has easily become the most impactful offensive implementation in the sport in ways that are hard to fathom.

At the start of the 2000s, the average amount of threes taken per game across the league was 13.7 a game. Fast forward to the 2010s where it upped to 18 a game. Curry made his NBA debut in 2009. So, in this last decade or so in which Curry has been around, the average threes taken per game has risen from 18 to now nearly double that at just over 35 a game.

That’s the impact of Stephen Curry. That’s the kind of effect that only a select pantheon of greats have been able to have on the game.

So realistically for a three-time champion, two-time MVP and All-time great it’s hard to say that this accomplishment truly defines his legacy. But if anything, it defines the growth of the game and how one man helped in lifting the NBA to even greater heights.

Congratulations Stephen Curry, the undisputed best shooter in NBA history. Over 2,974 made threes and many more on the way.