A Mini History of the 3-Point Gods
Here are the stories of the underdogs who became Gods of basketball
Ever since the 3-point line was introduced back in 1979, players battled to be the zone’s rightful king.
Many attempted and many faltered.
But few mastered the perimeter and made it their specialty.
Here are their stories. Here are the stories of the 3-Point Gods.
Reggie Miller was the first player to set a ridiculous 3-point record.
In his generation and the ones before, coaches didn’t make plays that revolved around the 3-point shot. They were more focused on the mid-range game and interior game.
They wanted players to shoot the mid-range shot or attack the basket, and wanted their centers and power forwards to use their size and play in the post.
So, shooters like Miller were rare (unlike today).
On Inside the NBA, Kenny Smith pointed out how different the game was back then as compared to the modern game:
“When [Reggie] came into the league, we were the same class, 1987,” Smith said. “The average team took five threes. And then today, the average team takes 34 threes. So imagine Reggie Miller taking nine to 10 threes a game.”
https://streamable.com/p0fq4f
For his career, Miller shot an average of 4.7 3-pointers a game. So, for him to lead the all-time 3-point record with 2,560 made threes is bonkers.
That’s some 3-Point God ish, right there.
However, this record, like all records, would eventually be broken.
When Ray Allen entered the NBA in 1996, he wasn’t a perimeter shooter.
Though he was the best 3-point shooter on the team, he was only taking four perimeter shots and making one per game.
It wasn’t until later on in his career that he truly accepted his destiny and accepted the identity of a sharpshooter.
In his fifth NBA season (2000-01), Allen had a taste of what knocking down 3s tasted like.
So, the following season, he upped his volume and took just under eight 3-pointers a game.
During this NBA era, that was a lot but not unreasonable.
The NBA was evolving and coaches were more willing to experiment with plays. They were letting their players shoot from beyond more.
This was good for Allen because it suited his game.
He was a quick and explosive player and can get to the basket when he wanted, but he had a special ability for getting shots off of cutting and curling and off of off-ball movement.
Playing this way led him to become one of the most dangerous 3-point shooters in the game.
And in 2011 he broke Miller’s record by sinking 2,561 3-pointers and became a 3-Point God.
The crazy thing about this event was that he was playing against his rival Kobe Bryant. And his team, the Boston Celtics, were playing against their long-time rival, the Los Angeles Lakers.
(This is just something interesting to take note of.)
Allen played for another 3 seasons where he continued to knock down 3s and grow his lead.
He ended his career making 2,973 threes.
He held the record for a decade until Steph Curry, on December 14, 2021, beat his record and became the NBA leader in made 3-pointers and became a true 3-Point God.
According to Miller, Curry’s final record will be damn near impossible to beat because not only is his record already mindboggling, he still has a lot more game in him.
"At one point I didn't think anyone would get close to over 2,900 but Stephen is going to shatter the record," Miller said. "Go to Vegas. This is one NBA record that's never, NEVER going to be touched.
"Nobody is coming for the crown. No one who, I think, is born yet."
Who will be the next to enter the realm of the 3-Point Gods?
No one really has an inkling, but a bearded man from Brooklyn is banging on the door.