SAN FRANCISCO — Early in the third quarter of the Warriors’ game against the Kings, the Chase Center rocketed to its feet.
So many times they’ve seen it, the ball leaving Steph Curry’s fingertips and dropping silkily through the nylon. This time, for the arbitrary reason that humans love round numbers, was different.
On a broken play, Curry pump faked a defender away from him to create space before releasing the 4,000th made 3-pointer of his regular-season career.
From the first one — an above-the-break trey off an Andris Biedrins assist in 2009 — to Thursday night, Curry has completely changed the game with his outside shooting. He inspired a generation of players to stretch their range to previously unheard of territory, yet remains the best shooter in the league in his 16th season.
Transcendent and influential, Curry has had a wholly unique career. He has been one-of-one since the moment he stepped into the league — even before the two MVPs, four titles and 11 All-Star selections. The audacity to take shots considered unthinkable, the relatable frame, preternatural hand-eye coordination, the unbridled focus. Curry wouldn’t have become Curry without it all and more.
Already the all-time leader in 3s made by a mile, Curry separates himself with every swish, every shimmy, every night-night.
“I feel like I’m living a constant dream kind of vibe,” Curry said last week. “Because from when 2,974 happened here (at Madison Square Garden) three years ago — that was a goal, but I never thought it’d be a reality. It’s cool like, we always joke I’m setting a new record every night each time I hit a 3.”
Putting it all into context is challenging. But the unprecedented 4,000-shot threshold is a fun opportunity for perspective.
Just the sheer number — 4,000 — is absurd. How many 3s is 4,000 3s? Well…
Bird, Magic and Isiah combined to take that many
Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas altogether played 2,782 regular season games across 36 cumulative seasons. Those three legends attempted a combined 4,174 shots from behind the 3-point arc.
Curry surpassed their combined attempts total early in his ninth season, 2017-18. By then, he’d already hit over 2,000.
A league of his own
Curry has hit 873 more 3-pointers than James Harden, second place on the all-time leaderboard.
The gap between Curry and Harden is as wide as the difference between Harden and 12th place (Jamal Crawford).
Curry’s 3s have traveled almost 20 miles
Curry’s ability to pull up from 30 feet changed what was possible on a basketball court.
All 4,000 of his career 3s have traveled a combined 105,092 feet, per Elias Sports Bureau. That adds up to 19.9 miles — about as far as Curry’s commute to work from Atherton to Chase Center.
Curry’s 3s would clear the highest peak of Palisades Tahoe ski mountain — stacked on itself 11 times. They’ve traversed the length of 1,117 basketball courts and 5.7 Golden Gate Parks.
A cross-sport reference
It took Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader, 3,259 games to collect 4,000 hits. Curry has played 1,013.
The epitome of consistency
In each of Curry’s last 12 seasons — excluding the five-game 2019-20 campaign — Curry has hit at least 200 3-pointers.
Before Curry entered the league, that had only been done 30 times.
The best 3-point marksman before Curry, Ray Allen crossed the 200 mark five times. Reggie Miller, the 3-point king before Allen, crossed it just once.
The 2016 drop in the bucket
During Curry’s unanimous MVP season of 2015-16, he set the single-season record with 402 triples.
Harden’s 378 3s in 2018 rank second on the all-time season list. Curry occupies the next four spots.
Curry’s 2016 3-pointers represent 10% of his career treys.