The Golden State Warriors have built a roster filled with elite shooters. Who is the best out of the bunch?
From top to bottom, the Golden State Warriors roster consists of some of the greatest shooters in the world. Because of this, the team has been on the frontier of the 3-point revolution. Every franchise in the NBA is attempting to recreate the system that the Warriors have created.
This system relies heavily on the ability to shoot the 3-pointer at a high rate. While mostly everyone on the Dubs is capable of knocking down a three, there are a few players who stand out from the rest of the crew.
These players would be Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. This trio is by far the best group of shooters that any team has to offer. But, which one of them is the best shooter?
Durant certainly has an amazing 3-point shot. His size and agility make him an incredible scorer. For his career, KD shoots an efficient 41.9 percent from beyond the arch.
Despite being one of the leagues best shooters, Durant is no match for Curry or Thompson. This is evident when looking at one specific stat. KD has never had a single season in which he made over 200 3-pointers. Meanwhile, both Curry and Thompson have six of these seasons themselves.
Clearly, the battle for “Best shooter” is between the two original splash brothers. Both of them have been transcendent with their talent. In the history of the league, I can’t think of any other duo that has been so deadly from the 3-point line.
Both Thompson and Curry have the power to get hot and shoot an entire team out of the game. Thompson’s most notorious example of this is his 37 point quarter vs the Sacremento Kings. His explosion propelled the Warriors to a big lead and they never looked back.
As for Curry, he has had multiple games such as this. The first ones that come to mind are his 13 3-pointers versus the New Orleans Pelicans and his 12 3-pointer outing versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. The latter of the two included a thirty-eight-foot bomb in overtime to win the game.
So, what sets these two legends apart from each other. Well, for starters, Curry has had a much higher usage rate than Thompson. As a result, Steph has been able to break the all-time single-season record for 3-pointers multiple times. As of now, Curry has two seasons of more than 300 3-pointers. No one else in NBA history has one season of this kind.
It’s not like Curry is just chucking up shots either. His 2015-16 MVP season in which he connected on 402 3-pointers was incredibly efficient. In that season, Curry shot 45.4 percent from the 3-point line. This is higher than Thompson has ever shot in a single season. Curry shot a better percentage while also attempting over 300 more 3-pointers than Klay’s best shooting season.
Furthermore, add in the fact that Curry is capable of doing all of this off of the dribble. Curry can use his ballhandling skills to create shots for himself. In contrast, most of Thompsons attempts come from catch and shoot opportunities.
In conclusion, it is obvious who the best shooter is. Curry is not only the best shooter in the NBA today, but he is likely the greatest shooter the world has ever seen.