Draymond GreenForward, Golden State Warriors

JJ Redick tells Draymond why Steph Curry is the greatest shooter ever | Best of The Volume

9 Jan 2022 · 3 min

Watch on YouTube

2:59

In a conversational interview with former NBA player and analyst JJ Redick, Draymond Green outlines his view on the greatest 3-point shooters in NBA history. Green places Stephen Curry at the top of his list, followed (in no particular order) by Klay Thompson, Kyle Korver, Ray Allen, and Reggie Miller. He explains that while earlier shooters like Tim Legler, Ray Allen, and Reggie Miller were excellent, they operated in a different era with fewer high‑difficulty, high‑volume attempts. Green emphasizes that modern shooting success hinges not only on shot quality but also on the sheer volume of attempts—citing Curry’s average of around 15 three‑point attempts per game and the league’s push for 20 attempts per game, which translates to roughly 27 points per game. The discussion also touches on the physical toll of such volume, the mechanics Green uses (right‑shoulder, left‑right plant, pick‑and‑roll pull‑ups), and how other elite shooters (Klay Thompson, Kyle Korver, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller) share similar shooting patterns. Damian Lillard is noted as the only other player whose style remotely resembles Curry’s. The interview blends personal anecdotes, analytical observations, and a broader commentary on how the 3‑point game has evolved.

Chapters

But for yourself, who is one of the greatest, um, 3-point shooters that we've seen in this league, uh, who do you rank in your top 5 3-point shooters to come through this league?
Oh, that's easy. That's easy. Steph is first.
I respect that.
Everybody else is, is way down the list to me. Uh, in no particular order, the, the other 4, it's Klay, Kyle Korver, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller. To me, those are the guys. Because when we talk about great shooters, I, I don't want to disparage the previous iteration of 3-point shooters in the '80s or the '90s, but those guys were not shooting the shots we take today. Those guys were not taking the difficult shots we were taking, nor were they shooting it at the volume. So yes. A guy like Tim Legler, great shooter. He shot, I think, 55.6% one year to lead the league. But he wasn't shooting the shots Klay was shooting. He's not shooting the shots Kyle Korver was shooting. And that's not a knock on Tim. That's— it was a different game and the game has evolved. And now we put such a premium on generating 3-point looks.
Mm-hmm.
It's not just about the quality of the look. It's the, it's the, it's the volume of looks. If, if Steph Curry And Tom Haberstroh always talks about this. I think Steph's up to like 15, almost 15 a game this year. Tom's always been like, Steph needs to shoot 20 a game. 'Cause you do the math on that. Those 20 shots equal about 27 points on average. On average.
Yeah. No, I think it's funny because I was talking to Bob Myers a couple weeks ago and he was telling me like, you know, Steph's 3-point shots are getting up. But all of my analytical guys tell me every time I ask him like how many threes are Steph at, man, he saw my analytical guys, they tell me, well, he's getting up there, but we need him at 20 a game. I'm like, number one, 23-point shots a game, that is brutal on the body, man.
Yes, yes. He's already putting in enough work to get his shot off, to get his clips off. The other thing I would say about Steph, to your point about him the shots he takes. My bag generally was coming to my right shoulder, left-right plant. You know this, everything was run on the left side. Me coming left-right plant, shooting over that shoulder away from the defense so they couldn't bother my shot. All right. Then alpha DHOs and sort of step-up pick and rolls, a 1 or 2 dribble pull-up 3. That was my bag, right?
Kyle Korver. Yes, sir.
A lot of the same, right? Klay, a lot of the same. Reggie, a lot of the same. Ray Allen, to a degree, had some off-the-dribble bounce, but at the end of his career when he was shooting a lot of threes, a lot of the same. Steph is everywhere.
It's everywhere.
The only guy, the only guy that shoots it even remotely like Steph, and I'm not saying one's better than the other or that he's that far behind Steph, is Dame.
Yes.
Dame is the only guy to me that in some way emulates what Steph does from the 3-point line.