“I think Reggie probably would have made another 1500 threes or something crazy” - Al Harrington talks about Reggie Miller playing in this era of the NBA
The comparison between Reggie Miller and Steph Curry will probably go on for much longer. With Curry surpassing Miller's career number of threes made and going on to surpass Ray Allen's, he has been pegged as the greatest shooter in NBA history.
On the I AM ATHLETE podcast, former basketball player AI Harrington was brought in as a guest. Late into the podcast, he was questioned on the difference between Reggie Miller and Steph Curry.
He went on to state that Steph is a better shooter, but if Reggie Miller had played in this era, he'd have made a lot more threes.
"Steph is definitely a better shooter but if Reggie played in this era where it was so many three shot, I think Reggie probably would have made another 1500 threes or something crazy."
The Hall of Famer featured in 1389 games in the league and in that time posted 2,560 threes with an average of 1.8 per game. The Baby-Faced Assassin, on the other hand, has made 797 appearances and recorded a total of 3011 threes, registering an average of 3.8 threes per game. He recently broke Allen's record of 2973 threes in 1,300 games played, and averaged 2.3 threes per game.
The Reggie Miller/Steph Curry shooting comparison
For perspective, when a name reference is needed to describe good shooting in the NBA, Reggie Miller is the go-to. He held the title for the all-time 3-point scoring leader long before Ray Allen came along.
Allen broke his record on Feb. 20, 2011 and went on to extend the record by 413 threes. He held the record for 11 years before Curry broke his on Dec. 14, 2021.
Steph Curry breaks the NBA record with a 3-pointer in 158 consecutive games.
The previous record? 157 by … Steph Curry https://t.co/dtV8FNqCRq
Harrington revealed that while Reggie Miller has a better release than Curry, it is important to note that he was from an era where dribbling the ball and then shooting wasn't a thing.
"Release, he's definitely a better shooter, but Reggie just came up during the time.. I played with Reggie, like he couldn't just shoot threes, not that he couldn't but it was like the ball had touch Rick Smith's hands, come back out before he shot a three. Reggie just ain't dribble up the ball and shoot a three or kick out three...That wasn't Reggie's game anyway, Reggie ain't have a handle like that."
He explained the reason being that fewer threes were taken back in his days and that the game was more mid-range shot based than long range. Which led to teams taking a very limited number of threes in a game.
"I mean, cos Curry's taking 12 a game, Reggie the most he probably took in a game was 3, maybe 4. That's it. Back in the day, on an average. Sometimes he got hot, maybe."
Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors go up against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the 9th of January.