We’ve heard the debate generated by Damian Lillard – but Stephen Curry is a league above everyone else when it comes to the 3-pointer.
Damian Lillard is putting on an incredible display of marksmanship in the Orlando Bubble, don’t get us wrong. However, he is still trailing behind Stephen Curry as the best shooter in the NBA.
Curry didn’t play much this year, only appearing in five games. As a result, most seem to have forgotten the absolute force he is from beyond the arch. He began the 3-point revolution when he led the Golden State Warriors to the top of the NBA hierarchy with his stroke from deep. While Dame has clearly been inspired by Curry’s attack, he is still the student.
Many are citing Dame’s recent pull-ups from deep as reasons why he is superior to Curry. Let’s look at the numbers from recent years.
Pull-up 3-pointers
(2019-20) Damian Lillard: 199-493 (40.4 percent)
(2018-19) Stephen Curry: 140-337(41.5 percent)
Lillard has a clear advantage in volume but Curry still reigns supreme in terms of efficiency. It should be noted that the number of 3-pointers taken each season has increased across the league and Lillard accomplished his feat while being the top dog in Portland while Curry was sharing the floor with Kevin Durant.
In total, Curry has been incredible from deep since his second MVP season. In 2016, Curry drilled 220-of-502 (43 percent) pull-up attempts. This stands as the second-most in league history behind James Harden’s unbelievable 342 makes in 2019. Of course, Harden attempted nearly double the number of 3-pointers.
Since 2016, Curry has connected on 605-of-1,473 (41 percent) pull-up attempts. As for Lillard, he has hit 549-of-1522 (36 percent). It feels hard to argue that Lillard is on the same level as Curry – let alone make the claim that he has surpassed the two-time MVP. There is just simply no matching the accuracy and output Curry has delivered in recent years.