The Stephen Curry 3 Point Record

by Lamar Hull

The point guard for the NBA's Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry, set a league record on the last day of the 2012-13 regular season when he swished a three-pointer at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter, giving him 270 three-pointers for the season, breaking Ray Allen's record of 269, set in the 2005-2006 season. Curry finished the season with a total of 272 trifectas for the Western Conference's sixth-seeded (47-35) Warriors. Now in his fourth season with the Warriors, Curry has established himself as the league's premier sharpshooter, finishing third in three-point percentage (45.3% on 272 of 600 attempts).

Stephen Curry grew up and attended high school in Charlotte, N.C. and was an All-State performer at Charlotte Christian, but wasn't highly recruited, primarily due to his slight stature. Staying close to home, Curry accepted a scholarship offer from Davidson College, a prestigious academic institution just north of Charlotte. In his second game as a collegian, Curry torched Michigan for 32 points. He went on to lead Davidson to a 29-5 record and an NCAA Tournament berth, averaging 21.5 ppg. Picking up where he left off, Curry was even more of a force the following season, scoring 25.5 ppg and leading the Wildcats (26-6) to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

In one of the most memorable individual performances in tournament history, Curry and Davidson became the nation's darlings, overcoming huge deficits against Gonzaga (Curry scoring 40 points, 30 in the second half), and Georgetown (trailing by 17 at halftime, Curry scored 25 after the break). Wisconsin, one of the nation's toughest defenses, was burned for 33 points by Curry, advancing Davidson to an Elite Eight regional final against top-seeded Kansas. Despite Curry's 25 points, eventual national champion Kansas survived a monumental upset by a 59-57 score.

In Curry's junior season, he once again stepped up his game, leading the nation in scoring (28.6 ppg). Despite a 26-7 record, Davidson was bypassed for the NCAA Tournament and participated in the NIT, where they went 1-1. Curry scored 26 points in his final game, finishing as Davidson's all-time career scoring leader and earning first-team All-American honors. Foregoing his senior season, Curry entered the NBA Draft where he was taken seventh overall by Golden State.

Questions still persisted about Curry due to his 6'3 185 lbs. size, and if he could make the switch from scoring to point guard. Four years later, those doubts have been erased. Improving his numbers each season, he finished the 2012-13 regular season seventh in scoring (22.9), 14th in assists (6.9), 16th in steals (1.6), second in free-throw percentage (90.0), along with his record-setting three-point numbers. Curry captured the league's attention by scoring 54 points versus the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 27, the NBA's highest-scoring individual performance of the season.

Curry's shooting ability routinely draws double-teams, but his development as a playmaker has helped to overcome the pressure, making him one of the league's most dangerous offensive weapons. Opposing teams are forced to stretch their coverage out to the perimeter, opening up the interior, and as Curry continues to upgrade his game, defenses find themselves having to decide whether to crowd him or back off, and quite often, that indecision results in easy points for the Warriors.

Basketball is often considered a "big man's" game, but as Stephen Curry has demonstrated, there is ample room for the "average-sized" player to not only compete, but succeed, giving hope to athletes tagged with the "size" issue. Curry will go down in history as one of the all-time elite basketball players ever.


Bio: Lamar Hull is a former NCAA college basketball player who also played on the European professional circuit. Lamar writes mainly for DirectTVDeal and other companies. He poses a huge interest in some of basketball's greatest players; especially the ones who helped shaped his game. He loves watching basketball! Lamar is also a blogger for his youth basketball sport's blog at Inspirational Basketball.