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As he approaches Saturday’s game, the NBA’s all-time 3-point champion is merely 11 triples away from achieving a significant milestone.
When the Golden State Warriors take on the Detroit Pistons on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass), Stephen Curry will be on the brink of becoming the first player in league history to surpass 4,000 career 3-pointers, needing just 11 to reach this landmark.
Curry solidified himself as the all-time leader in 3-pointers made on December 14, 2021, when he drained his 2,974th triple, eclipsing the previous record set by Ray Allen.
Since that memorable evening at Madison Square Garden, 1,180 days have passed. During this span, Curry has participated in 221 games and added 1,012 more 3-pointers to his total, positioning him to establish another unique milestone in shooting.
Curry was the pioneer in hitting 3,000 career 3-pointers, a feat now also accomplished by James Harden (3,117). Although Damian Lillard (2,785) and former teammate Klay Thompson (2,657) are closing in on the 3K mark, Curry is poised to break through the 4K barrier.
The journey toward this extraordinary accomplishment began in 2009, when the Warriors drafted Curry with the seventh pick. In his rookie season, he ranked 10th in 3-pointers made with 166, a position he has only been surpassed in during two injury-affected seasons throughout his 16-year career.
Over eight out of the 16 seasons, Curry has led the league in total 3-pointers made, including setting a record of 402 in the 2015-16 season, where he became the first player ever to win the Kia MVP unanimously. He has more seasons with over 300 3-pointers (five) than all other players in the league combined, with James Harden and Thompson being the only others to achieve this feat.
Harden and Thompson also rank just behind Curry in terms of games with at least five and ten made 3-pointers, respectively. Curry has achieved 388 games with at least five 3-pointers, just surpassing the combined total of Harden and Damian Lillard (387). Moreover, his 26 games with ten or more made 3-pointers dwarf the combined numbers of the next five players.
As he gears up for tonight’s matchup, Curry is not looking for five or ten triples; he requires 11 to reach the milestone of 4,000. Throughout his career, he has reached this threshold in 14 occasions, including a standout game less than two weeks ago where he scored a dozen 3-pointers in a victory over Orlando on February 27. The question now is whether he can replicate that brilliance at home and create a new standard for future sharpshooters to aspire to.
In that game against the Magic, Curry notched his longest shot of the current season, sinking a 51-foot bomb from beyond half court just before halftime. This bucket brought his total to 21 points at the intermission, before he exploded for 35 points in the second half, culminating in a remarkable 56-point performance—one of the highest of his illustrious career.
Curry has never been shy about launching shots from long range, as evidenced by his willingness to attempt backcourt shots, despite the potential risk to his shooting percentage. Over the course of his career, he has made six shots from well beyond the arc on 113 tries (5.3%), while still holding a remarkable ranking of fourth in all-time 3-point shooting percentage (42.4%) among 161 players who have made at least 1,000 3-pointers.
“He was due for one of those,” remarked Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “What I love about Steph is his fearless approach to half-court shots; he doesn’t worry about his shooting stats. There have been so many near misses over the past couple of years, and when I saw him shoot it, I just knew it was going in.”
Curry’s consistency is a critical element of his pursuit of 4,000 made 3-pointers. While every shooter faces slumps, he has never gone three consecutive games without sinking at least one 3-pointer. In fact, Curry has made at least one 3-pointer in 967 out of his 1,010 career games, achieving an astounding 95.7% success rate, which is the highest in history among players with a minimum of 50 game appearances. Additionally, only 186 players in NBA history have participated in as many as 967 games, making this accomplishment even more impressive.
He not only holds the record for the most consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer (268 games over five seasons from 2018 to 2023), but he also has the second-longest streak (157 games from 2014 to 2016).
All of these achievements contribute to an unparalleled shooting legacy, and with just 11 more 3-pointers, Curry will add yet another accolade to his impressive collection.
