Ray Allen knows a thing or two (or three) about shooting a basketball. With 2,973 made 3-pointers, he’s far and away the record holder for the most 3-pointers ever made, and throughout his career knocked down exactly 40 percent of his attempts from downtown.
So when Allen gives his opinion on shooting, it’s a good idea to listen. On Wednesday, Allen joined ESPN’s First Take to talk about Steph Curry, who helped the Warriors to victory Tuesday by scoring 29 points on his 29th birthday.
“I think right now, from what I’ve seen, it’s easy for me to say that he’s the best that I’ve ever seen shoot,” Allen said, when asked where the Golden State point guard ranks among his all-time best shooters.
Allen continued, mentioning how the game changes from generation to generation, adding, “I really put him in a category all of his own, because the way he plays the game, as a point guard that can handle the way he handles the ball, and the way he can shoot the ball.”
Discussing the comparison between himself and Curry, Allen noted that he’d rather compare himself to Klay Thompson, which is fair, as Allen’s game is much more similar to Thompson than Curry. Thompson, as Allen did when he played, shoots the majority of his threes either in catch-and-shoot situations or after running off a screen, whereas Curry often shoots off the dribble, and is much more of a distributor.
While simply watching Curry play would tell you how impressive his shooting ability is, it’s still pretty neat to hear this level of praise from Allen, who is one of the best shooters the game has ever seen.
