As I sat down to analyze the shooting statistics across the NBA this season, I couldn't help but think about how much the game has evolved. When I first started covering basketball professionally about fifteen years ago, the conversation around great shooters was completely different - it was mostly about mid-range specialists and the occasional three-point threat. Today, it's a different ball game entirely, and honestly, I've never seen shooting talent at this level before in my career.
The numbers this season have been absolutely staggering, and after crunching the data from every team's performance, one name consistently rises to the top: Stephen Curry. Now, I know some readers might be thinking this is obvious, but hear me out - the gap between him and everyone else is actually widening, which is incredible given his age. Through the first half of this season, Curry is shooting 45.2% from three-point range on 12.1 attempts per game. Let that sink in for a moment. That's nearly five percentage points higher than the league average, on extremely high volume. When I compare this to other elite shooters like Damian Lillard (38.7%) or Klay Thompson (40.1%), the difference becomes quite apparent. What makes Curry's numbers even more impressive is the degree of difficulty - he's taking contested threes, off-balance shots, and deep threes that most players wouldn't even attempt.
What many casual fans might not realize is that shooting excellence isn't just about three-point percentage. I've developed my own weighted shooting metric over the years that incorporates two-point percentage, free throw accuracy, and shot difficulty, and Curry leads in this category by a significant margin too. His true shooting percentage sits at an unbelievable 67.3%, which is just insane when you consider his shot selection. I remember watching him against the Celtics last month, and he hit four consecutive threes from well beyond the arc - the kind of shots that would get most players benched for taking. But that's the thing about rebuilds and developing teams - there's really a lot of room to grow coupled with not-so-pleasant expectations, much like what Coach Gavina anticipates for his team in UAAP Season 88. Teams know Curry is going to take those shots, they plan for it, and he still makes them at an elite rate.
The conversation about the best shooter can't be complete without mentioning the historical context. Having covered the NBA since 2008, I've witnessed Ray Allen's precision and Reggie Miller's clutch performances, but Curry has fundamentally changed how basketball is played at every level. His impact goes beyond just making shots - he forces entire defenses to stretch beyond their comfort zones, creating opportunities that simply didn't exist before. I was talking with a college coach recently who told me they're now teaching twelve-year-olds to shoot from NBA range because of Curry's influence. That's how transformative his shooting has been to the sport.
Some analysts might argue for younger shooters like Tyrese Haliburton or Desmond Bane, and while their numbers are impressive - Haliburton's 40.8% on 8.1 attempts deserves recognition - they haven't maintained this level for multiple seasons. Consistency matters when we're talking about the "best" of anything in sports. Curry has been doing this for a decade, through different rule changes, defensive schemes designed specifically to stop him, and as the focal point of every opponent's game plan. The Warriors' system certainly helps, but I've watched enough games to know that many of his makes are just individual brilliance.
At the end of the day, while statistics provide the foundation for this discussion, having watched hundreds of games live and studied thousands more on film, there's an artistic element to shooting that numbers can't fully capture. The way Curry releases the ball, his footwork before the catch, his ability to create separation - these are things I appreciate more each season. The data confirms what my eyes have been telling me for years: Stephen Curry remains in a class of his own when it comes to shooting excellence, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.