Steve Kerr reflects on NBA losing 'traditional point guards' in wake of Steph Curry's influence on game
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr believes Steph Curry's style of play has revolutionized the point guard position. Before the Warriors took on the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, Mavs beat reporter Joey Mistretta asked Kerr if he thinks Chris Paul is among the last of the traditional pass-first point guards that fans got used to before they became the primary shooters that we see now.
The Warriors coach agreed that CP3 is indeed one of the last of his kind before giving Curry credit for the shift in the position's style of play.
"There just aren't many guys like [Chris Paul] anymore," Kerr said. "I think Steph [Curry] has really influenced a lot of the young point guards in the league now, so shooting the three is a much bigger deal for the modern point guard compared to guys like Chris."
"[Chris Paul] is a little bit of a dying breed, " Kerr added. "But you hope that we're still going to be able to produce some pass first point-guards because they add so much to the game."
While Steph Curry isn't the first point guard to use the three-pointer as a weapon, he is certainly the best at it. His ability to nail three-pointers accurately, even at distances of thirty feet and beyond, has inspired a new crop of point guards.
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Comparing Steph Curry and Chris Paul on the three-pointers made and assists leaderboards
Steph Curry has established himself as the best shooter to touch a basketball, and it's not just optics and highlights. He has the numbers to back it up. So far, he has sunk 3,680 shots from behind the arc with a shooting percentage of 42.6%.
The next point guard on the all-time three-pointers made list is Damian Lillard. He is number four on both makes and attempts (2,575-6,935). Most of the other guys in the top 10 are considered shooting guards or swingmen who can play both the two and the three, except for Jason Terry (10th), who played more like a combo guard than a traditional point guard.
Chris Paul, who can shoot threes but is more of a traditional PG, is further down. He is 34th in all-time three-pointers made with 1,699 makes on 4,600 attempts.
However, Paul is undoubtedly a great facilitator and is third on the all-time assists leaderboard with 11,786. The two players ahead of him are fellow great point guards Jason Kidd and John Stockton. In fact, the entire top 15 is dominated by great point guards except for LeBron James and James Harden, who are fourth and 15th, respectively.
If you're wondering where Curry is on this list, he is 40th with 6,031 career assists so far.