“That record might be harder than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s points record” - Chris Haynes believes Steph Curry’s 3-point record will be harder to break than the NBA scoring record
Steph Curry became the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers Tuesday night. Curry sank his 2,974th 3-pointer to pass Hall of Famer Ray Allen’s record in a 105-96 win over the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
Many are now wondering if the Golden State Warriors point guard, who turns 34 in March, will go on to set the record so high that no player will ever catch the mark.
Count Chris Haynes in that camp.
Will anyone break Steph Curry's new record?
In Thursday's episode of Chris Haynes’ Spotify podcast “Posted Up with Chris Haynes,” Haynes revealed his opinion on anyone catching whatever mark Steph Curry has whenever he retires:
“It’s going to be tough. That record might be harder than Kareem Abdul-Jabber’s points record. It’s that significant.”
Thaddeus Young, a power forward for the San Antonio Spurs, agreed, saying “that’s a fact.” Young dove into the conversation, further commenting on Curry and his greatness. Specifically, he mentioned he doesn’t see anybody breaking Curry’s record “anytime soon.”
“I don’t think anybody’s going to ever come close to it for the simple fact of he is not slowing down … he’s probably going to play another what, five, six years?" Young said. "So that’s a lot of 3s that’s going to be going up in the next five … he might beat this thing by 3, 400.”
Here is the episode on Spotify, with the Curry discussion between 34 minutes to roughly the end of the podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JyuscP6csZTzwmAKoyadO?si=K8sZjtZ9SRCcrktQFHUv6A
Steph Curry making history
Steph Curry's shot came early in the game. There was 7:33 remaining in the first quarter when Curry drained his crowning shot. The 28-footer came off an Andrew Wiggins pass that found an open Curry in the right wing. Immediately after, the Warriors intentionally fouled in order to force a break so Curry could bask in the exuberance of his moment.
When asked about Knicks fans' reactions, he said:
“I appreciate so much the way the fans embraced the moment with me and let me kind of get lost in it ... I could feel it.”
Holding one of the NBA's most-revered records, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989 with 38,387 points. Karl Malone, who retired in 2004, finished with 36,928 and is in second. LeBron James, who will turn 37 in a few weeks and is in his 19th season in the league, is third at 35,811.
Curry, a seven-time All-Star, managed to break Ray Allen’s record in 789 games to Allen’s 1,300. Steph finished the game with 6,903 3-point attempts in comparison to the 7,429 Allen took before retiring in 2014. All told, Curry managed to break the record in 511 fewer attempts than his predecessor.
The greatness does not end there, as "Chef Curry" managed to cook this up while maintaining the highest 3-point percentage (43.1%) among the top 50 all-time 3-point shooters in NBA history.
Curry, in his 13th season, has 2,977 3-pointers. How high he sets the bar will depend on how long he plays and, of course, how many more he makes. He has 145 already this season, and his top five season totals are an NBA-record 402 (in 2015-16), 354, 337, 324 and 286. Those are four of the top five and five of the top eight totals in league history.
In talking about all of the greatness Curry has accomplished across his career, here's where it all started: