The NBA’s Top Shooters

There are several ways to score in a basketball game. When a player scores, either he shoots, lays-in or dunks the basketball. That is what we call as a scorer. A shooter does his scoring by what else, shooting. That’s the difference.

The NBA’s top four All-Time leading scorers – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan were prolific scorers but never shooters. Jabbar and Malone made their shots inside the paint while Kobe and Jordan manufactured incomprehensible shots to score.

Think of legends Alex English, George Gervin, Larry Bird and Reggie Miller. These are the real shooters. One of the first Europeans to play in the NBA, the late Drazen Petrovic, was a shooter. Another European shooter that comes to mind is Peja Stojakovic.  This elite cast including Ray Allen, recently rumored as soon-to-be Warrior, have stretched the court for their respective teams with their long range shots.

This season, two veterans and three upstarts dominate the rest of the league’s roster of shooters. Four of them play for Western Conference teams which in part, shows the kind of competition the West had been offering.

In descending order with their current season averages, these athletes can either shoot blindfold or from the parking lot. They are this generation’s best and has made long distance sniping an art form and dunking just an afterthought.

Stephen Curry – The five year pro with Golden State is averaging 23.7 points per game and a 40.6% 3-pt shots made.  Although two other guys on this list have better 3-point percentages, Curry gets top billing because in the last four seasons, he scorched the NBA with 644 threes made.  Compare this to the 555 Jordan made during his entire reign with the Chicago Bulls.  Curry is number one because he finds shooting opportunities anywhere with or without the ball.

Kyle Korver – Don’t let a low 13.2 ppg fool you.  Next to Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, Korver, playing for the Hawks, is the league’s most defended player away from the ball.  Now on his 12th year, he is the only player with more than 2,500 three point attempts and his record of 127 consecutive games with at least a 3 made broke the record of 89 made by Dana Barros between 1994 and 1996 seasons.  Korver currently averages an unnatural 54.9% conversion from afar.

Damian Lillard – Last season, Lillard recorded the most threes made by a rookie.  Now on his second year and with a 38.3% 3-point conversion rate, he’s also on top of the list among sophomores in this category.  A clutch shooter averaging 20.3 ppg, he usually drains the important baskets for Portland, as in, “Lillard, for the win!”.

Dirk Nowitzki – Try defending a seven-footer with a sick mid-range fade-away jump shot.  This somewhat defines Nowitzki’s point production.  It’s not exactly pretty to look at but he gets Dallas and Mark Cuban going with those almost unstoppable fall-aways.  The 13-year vet currently produces 19 ppg with a three-point conversion rate of 33.7%

Klay Thompson – Together with the one heading this list, and both combining a scoring average of 44.4 ppg, they are called the Warriors’ Splash Brothers.  In the NBA for three years, Thompson, with 608 threes made, is nearing Curry’s own record of 644.  Just imagine Ray Allen in a Warrior uniform with Curry and Thompson.  Ridiculously unfair.  Thompson submits a 42.6% conversion rate from long distance.

With the exception of Nowitzki, the rest are either point- or shooting guards.  Other guards who had high percentages in outside shooting were Mark Price, Steve Nash and of late Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards and Mike Miller with Cleveland.