Steph Curry ruined basketball. At least, that is what the old-timers sitting on their porches like to scream into the void. They see a kid at the local YMCA pull up from forty feet and airball a jumper, and they immediately blame the guy with the green light in Golden State. But here is the thing. We are living in the absolute golden age of ball-striking, and honestly, trying to rank the greatest shooters of all time has become a bit of a mathematical nightmare because the game has changed so fundamentally.
It is not just about the makes. It is about the gravity.
Think about Reggie Miller. Back in the nineties, Reggie was the boogeyman. If he caught the ball anywhere near the arc, the Garden went silent. He moved without the ball like a ghost. But Reggie never averaged more than five three-point attempts per game in a single season. Compare that to the modern era. Today, a "specialist" might take eight or nine. The sheer volume has shifted the goalposts of what we consider elite.
The undisputed king of the hill
Let’s not overthink this. Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter of all time, and it isn't particularly close anymore. The numbers are just stupid. He passed Ray Allen for the most career three-pointers made in fewer than 800 games. It took Ray 1,300. That’s a gap so wide it feels like a typo.
Curry changed the geometry of the court. Before him, "good range" meant you could hit consistently from twenty-five feet. Now? If you don't pick Curry up the second he crosses half-court, you’ve already lost the possession. He shoots 40% from distances that used to be considered "bad shots." His 2015-2016 season remains the high-water mark for human shooting. 402 threes. Nobody had ever even hit 300 before that. He basically broke the simulation.
But why is he better than the guys who came before? It's the versatility. Ray Allen was a master of the catch-and-shoot. He had that robotic, perfect form that never changed whether he was wide open or sprinting off a screen. Curry, though, can do that and hit off the dribble. His handle is so tight that he creates space where none exists. He can be falling sideways, fading left, with a hand in his eye, and the ball still splashes. It’s a level of hand-eye coordination that feels almost supernatural.
The pure mechanics of Ray Allen and Klay Thompson
If you were building a shooting robot in a lab, you’d probably model it after Ray Allen or Klay Thompson.
Ray Allen’s jumper was a masterpiece of efficiency. He was famous for his conditioning. He would run miles through the off-ball screens, wear his defender down to a nub, and then rise up with a high release point that was almost impossible to block. That shot in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals? That is the most "clutch" shot in the history of the sport for many. He didn't even look at his feet. He just knew where the line was.
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Then there is Klay.
Klay Thompson is a different beast. He has the "hottest" hand in NBA history. When Klay gets going, the hoop looks like an ocean. Remember the 37-point quarter against the Kings? He didn't miss. Not once. He had 60 points against the Pacers on only eleven dribbles. Eleven! That is the definition of a pure shooter. He doesn't need to dance with the ball. He just catches, aligns his feet in a microsecond, and lets it fly. His lower body strength is what people miss; his base is always square, no matter how fast he’s moving.
The pioneers who paved the way
We can't talk about the greatest shooters of all time without mentioning Larry Bird.
Larry didn't have the volume of the modern guys. He didn't need it. He won the first three Three-Point Contests essentially to prove a point. He famously walked into the locker room before the 1988 shootout and asked the other players who was coming in second. He then won the trophy without taking his warmup jacket off. Bird’s shooting was about psychological warfare. He’d tell you exactly where he was going to hit the shot from, and then he’d do it.
And honestly, we have to give flowers to Dražen Petrović.
If Dražen hadn't died so young, the record books might look a lot different. He was the first European player to really show the NBA that "overseas" guys could be the best shooters on the floor. Reggie Miller often cites Petrović as the hardest player he ever had to guard. He had a lightning-quick release and a legendary work ethic. He would stay in the gym until he made 500 shots. Every day. No exceptions.
Don't forget the big men
Shooting isn't just for guards anymore. Dirk Nowitzki changed the "stretch four" position forever. Before Dirk, if you were seven feet tall, you stayed in the paint and fought for rebounds. Dirk moved to the perimeter and introduced the one-legged fadeaway. It was a shot that defied physics. Because he was so tall and his release was so high, it was literally unblockable. He proved that touch is just as important as size.
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Why Steve Nash is the efficiency god
People forget how good Steve Nash was because he was so focused on passing. But look at the 50-40-90 club. That’s 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% from the free-throw line. Most legends might hit that once. Nash did it four times.
He was arguably the most efficient shooter to ever play the point guard position. If he had played in today’s era, where coaches practically beg their stars to take twenty shots a night, Nash might have averaged thirty points easily. He was a master of the "sun-faded" floater and the leaning runner. His touch was soft as silk.
The data behind the "Greatest" title
When we analyze the greatest shooters of all time, we have to look at "True Shooting Percentage" (TS%). This metric accounts for the fact that three points are worth more than two and that free throws matter.
- Kevin Durant: He is a seven-footer with the handle of a guard and the shot of a sniper. He is a member of the 50-40-90 club and has four scoring titles. His ability to pull up over anyone makes him one of the most dangerous shooters in history.
- Kyle Korver: For a few years, Korver was statistically the most dangerous person on a basketball court. In the 2009-10 season, he shot 53.6% from three. That’s not a typo. He made more than half of his attempts over an entire season.
- Peja Stojaković: At his peak with the Kings, Peja was a nightmare. He had a high, looping arc on his shot that seemed to take forever to come down, but it almost always found the bottom of the net.
The common thread among elite snipers
What makes these people different? Is it just practice? Sorta. But it’s also something called "proprioception." It is the body's ability to sense its position in space. The greatest shooters don't need to look at the rim to know where it is. They feel the distance.
They also have "short memories." A great shooter can miss ten shots in a row and still feel like the eleventh one is a guaranteed make. That psychological resilience is what separates a guy who is good in practice from a guy who hits the game-winner in a packed arena.
The evolution of the shot
In the eighties, the three-point line was treated like a gimmick. Many coaches hated it. They thought it was "soft."
By the nineties, it became a specialized weapon. You had guys like Steve Kerr (who still holds the record for the highest career three-point percentage at 45.4%) and Craig Hodges. These guys were role players. They came off the bench, hit two shots, and sat back down.
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Fast forward to the 2020s, and shooting is the primary engine of every offense. Even centers like Brook Lopez and Nikola Jokić are expected to hit from deep. This shift has made the league more spaced out, more athletic, and arguably more exciting.
Practical takeaways for the modern player
If you want to improve your own shooting based on how the legends do it, here is what the tape tells us:
1. Mastery of the base. Watch Klay Thompson’s feet. They are always shoulder-width apart. He doesn't drift. Even when he’s sprinting, he stops on a dime and squares his hips. Power comes from the floor, not the arms.
2. The "one-motion" vs. "two-motion" shot. Curry uses a one-motion shot. The ball never stops moving from his waist to his release. This makes it faster and gives it more range. Traditional shooters like Ray Allen used a two-motion shot, jumping high and releasing at the apex. If you lack upper body strength, the one-motion (Curry style) is much easier to replicate.
3. Arc matters. Flat shots don't go in. The rim is eighteen inches wide. If a ball comes in flat, the "target" is actually smaller because of the angle. If the ball comes in from a high arc, the entire diameter of the rim is available.
4. Repetition is boring but necessary. There are no shortcuts. Every person on this list spent thousands of hours alone in a gym. JJ Redick used to have a routine where he had to make 342 shots every single day. Not take. Make.
The debate will always rage on because different eras required different things. But whether it's the sheer volume of Curry, the robotic perfection of Ray Allen, or the cold-blooded trash-talk of Larry Bird, the greatest shooters of all time all share one thing: they made the basket feel like it was ten feet wide.
To truly understand shooting, start tracking your "effective field goal percentage" instead of just raw makes. Focus on your footwork before the ball even reaches your hands. The best shooters in the world win the battle before they ever let the ball go. Stop aiming and start feeling the rhythm of the shot. That is the secret the legends won't always tell you.