In a recent analysis of the second-best shooters ever after Stephen Curry put together by Hoops Hype’s Frank Urbina, two Boston Celtics made the cut from a fairly broad field of historical sharpshooters.
Urbina drew from a veritable “who’s who” of the best long-distance marksmen to see who wins the silver behind the Hoops Hype analysts’ greatest of all shooters in league history in Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry. Other names besides Larry Bird and Ray Allen included Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, Reggie Miller, Kevin Durant, Steve Nash, Kyle Korver, Predrag Stojakovic, Drazen Petrovic, and Oscar Schmidt.
Let’s take a look at some of what Urbina had to say about the Celtics on that list — as well as who he believes is No. 2 on the list of the greatest shooters of all time.
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On Bird
“Larry Bird’s legend as a shooter is more than what the numbers might say it should be, as Bird – mostly due to the era he played in – didn’t shoot as many threes as he should have in his prime,” suggests the H/H analyst.
“Bird only attempted at least three 3-pointers per night three times in his career and shot a rather mundane 37.6% from the area for his career.”
On Allen
Per Urbina, the “actual top candidate to be called the second-greatest shooter in NBA history is the player many considered the best shooter of all time prior to Curry, Ray Allen.”
“The younger generation of NBA fans may not remember this since he’s been out of the league since 2013-14, but Allen’s shooting was the stuff of legends, as he had a lightning-quick release, picture-perfect form and crazy elevation on his jumper.”
The verdict
“Clutch as they come and with the numbers to back it up (second all-time in threes, 40% from deep on nearly 7,500 career triples), we’d probably say Allen has the strongest case of anyone on this list to be called the second-best shooter ever,” opines Urbina.
“His body of work and his ability to hit huge shots when it mattered most take his resume to another level, as does his consistency over such a long span of time, along with the fact that he was the supreme outside shooter in the league in a time when there were fewer players shooting so many 3s”.
Check out the rest of the analysis here.
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