No one expected Stephen Curry to transcend basketball when he first entered the NBA in 2009. But after 14 years playing for the Golden State Warriors, not only has he dominated the sport by winning four championship rings, but he has also reinvented the way the game is played. There is no denying that Curry has cemented himself as the greatest shooter of all time. He is a big reason why the NBA’s style of play has transitioned to shooting more long-range shots rather than the old back-to-the-basket offenses. Without him, it’s hard to imagine if the league would become what it is today.
That being said, Curry has also set plenty of records so far in his NBA career. And by the looks of it, some of these records are nearly impossible to break for anyone. Below, we take a look at five records the All-Star guard boasts that are unlikely to be beaten.
Most 3-pointers in NBA history
Before the three-point revolution changed the way basketball was played in the NBA, the shot was never a big factor in deciding a basketball game. But as the decades went by, the long-range bomb has been used to great effect, particularly by the Warriors since the arrival of Curry and his splash brother, Klay Thompson.
That’s why it makes sense for someone of Curry’s talent to hold the record for most three-pointers made in NBA history. Being the primary engine of Golden State’s offense, the All-Star guard holds the distinction of making the most field goals ever from beyond the arc. To do that, Curry had to overcome Ray Allen’s 2,973 three-pointers made during the Hall-of-Fame shooter’s career. The former Davidson standout broke Allen’s record on 14th December 2021 against the New York Knicks in front of an ecstatic Madison Square Garden crowd.
As it stands, it would take a young star to start shooting from three early in his career and have the same longevity, talent, and accuracy Curry has to even sniff the record he’ll have set when he hangs up his sneakers for the last time. It’s worth mentioning that Curry is far from finished in his career. It’s entirely possible that he breaches the 4,000-mark, which would make the record even more difficult to break.
Most games with nine or more 3-pointers
It really isn’t easy to score a three-pointer in the NBA. Apart from the distance between the arc and the rim, there are also elite defenders making any shooter’s life miserable for all 48 minutes of a NBA game. Curry hasn’t had much issue getting his way throughout his career, though, as he holds the record for most games with nine or more three-point shots made in a single game. The Warriors’ star currently has 39 games with this number of threes.
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In comparison, Damian Lillard has 13 and Klay Thompson has 12. The difference between the two stars and Curry is very far, and it won’t be easy for anyone in the NBA to break that record anytime soon. What’s certain, though, is that someone better than Lillard and Thompson – two elite shooters in their own right – must have a lot of playing time on a NBA court in order to even come close to this accomplishment.
Most 3-pointers in a single regular season
Apart from making the most 3-pointers in NBA history, Curry also holds the distinction of sinking the most long-range bombs in a single regular season. Back in the 2015-16 campaign, the very same period in which the Dubs accomplished a historic 73-9 regular season record, Curry made an astounding 402 triples.
Doing the math, that accounts for 1,206 points of Curry’s points during that regular season. In contrast, James Harden came in second with 378 three-point shots made during the 2018-19 campaign. This feat helps justify Golden State’s impressive win-loss record during that time, a record that was previously held by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.
With that amount of offense generated by Curry’s talent in making three-pointers, it’s no surprise that the Warriors set the NBA record for most wins in a single regular season. Fortunately for Curry, it may take a while before someone comes close to making that number of shots from beyond the arc in one campaign.
Consecutive regular season games with at least a single 3-pointer
Although being a scorer puts a player closer to the spotlight, the amount of difficulty in doing so at an elite level never waivers. That’s why Curry’s record of making at least one shot from the three-point line for 157 consecutive games is as awesome as it sounds.
Curry started his journey of building this record way back in November 2014, and made a three-point shot in every single game for two years. That lasted until November 2016, when Golden State’ All-Star went 0-for-10 against the L.A. Lakers, bringing the final total to 157 games.
The closest someone came to breaking this record was Kyle Korver, with a streak of 127 games. If Korver, one of the NBA’s greatest ever shooters, couldn’t equal the record, what makes you think that anyone could possibly threaten Curry’s historic streak?
While Curry is more known for his talent in making three-pointers, he’s even more reliable when it comes to sinking free throws. As a matter of fact, the Warriors star holds the NBA record for the most efficient free throw rating in league history at 90.87%. The closest to this mark is Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash, who cashed in at a 90.43% clip at the charity stripe during his career.
This means that when Curry is at the free throw line, he’s almost guaranteed to score. And much like the records mentioned above, it’s going to be an uphill climb before someone breaks it. Even his peers like LeBron James, and the superstars of tomorrow like Luka Doncic, aren’t as efficient from the line as him, so it’s not wrong to think that no player will be able to surpass that Curry record in the near future.
With the new season coming soon, the current crop of NBA stars will have a chance to wrestle one or several of these records away from Stephen Curry. But you can be sure that the game’s greatest ever shooter will be just as motivated to hold on to his records, and perhaps set even greater heights.