We are currently in the three-point era of basketball, where teams and players want to hoist up as many good quality threes as possible. The idea is simple: the three-point shot puts the most points on the board and more attempts mean more points.
Especially with the likes of Stephen Curry completely changing the game with his shooting, this style of basketball is probably here to stay. But this begs the question: how would some of the older generation’s three-point players impact today’s game?
Before Stephen Curry, we had the likes of Reggie Miller and even Ray Allen as the most impactful long-distance shooters in the league. But what if we combined all the best three-point shooters in NBA history, who would come out on top?
Here is the ultimate three-point contest featuring The NBA’s best shooters and who comes out on top.
Competitors: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, Larry Bird, Kyle Korver, Chris Mullin, Steve Kerr, Steve Nash, Peja Stojakovic
First Round
The first round will be very close and even more intense. The favorite for this competition will be Stephen Curry, who is widely regarded as the best shooter ever. His teammate Klay is also a marksman, while Allen and Miller can easily win this competition if they catch fire. Of course, anybody else on this list has a chance to win.
Out of a total of 27 shots per player in the first round, only three can progress. The key here will be the money ball, which gifts 3-points to the player per make.
Stephen Curry will be the winner of this round, nailing a total of 20 shots from behind the arc in the time limit of 70 seconds. Reggie Miller comes second place with 19 makes, while Larry Bird barely makes it at the last second with an insane buzzer-beater to beat out Klay Thompson. Bird finishes with 19 makes as well beating out Klay’s 18.
In the first round, some players will surprisingly struggle. Steve Nash, one of the best shooters ever, will only manage to make 12 shots while Ray Allen also surprisingly makes 13. They will feel hard done by their performances especially when Peja and Mullin nail 17 threes apiece.
Kerr and Korver also manage 17 makes, but they barely miss out due to Bird’s extremely clutch shot.
Second Round
This round will be very intense. Curry catches on fire once again, nailing 21 threes and making it seem that he will not be losing this contest. Miller finishes with 18 makes, missing out on all the money balls.
Larry Bird gets the crowd going by making 20 shots including 12 straight to finish the round.
Going into the final round, Bird and Curry go head to head in the greatest 3-point contest ever.
Final Round
Both players are easily two of the best shooters ever and have a nice high-arc release which makes every basket look so much better. For Curry, he is very confident that he is the best shooter ever and the majority of fans and media regard him as such. But Larry Bird is one of the most competitive and stone-cold players to ever play, and he is easily one of the best shooters ever.
Curry drains a total of 21 shots, setting the tone for a very difficult task for Larry Bird. In typical Bird fashion, he will trash talk Curry and let everyone know that he will be taking home the three-point crown.
In his last rack, Bird will drain the final three-pointer to give him the edge over Curry with one second remaining. Bird will finish with 22 makes and win the greatest three-point contest that will ever happen.
