Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird astonishingly doesn’t have the Warriors sniper Stephen Curry as the greatest shooter of all time, picks Reggie Miller and Mark Price ahead of the baby-faced assassin.
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In the history of the NBA, there have been few players who have completely changed the course of the league. Case in point: Wilt Chamberlain, who quite literally changed the rules of the game, or more recently, Allen Iverson, who transformed the culture of the league, and even to a smaller extent, Dirk Nowitzki, who changed the way European players are looked at.
However, arguably, none of the aforementioned have changed the game like Stephen Curry. The 3x NBA champion was almost single-handedly the pioneer in transforming the NBA into a three-point shooting league.
While the current generation of fans certainly believe that the baby-faced assassin is the greatest shooter to ever step on the court. However, there was a time when this was in question. Even the likes of Celtics legend Larry Bird believe there have been better 3-point snipers to play in the NBA.
Larry Bird surprisingly names players ahead of Stephen curry as better shooters.
Stephen Curry is widely regarded as the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA. It’s hard to dispute that, be it the eye test or with the numbers that are available at our disposal. The 8x All-Star currently leads the NBA all-time 3-points, with 3,117, which is nearly 150 ahead of second-placed Ray Allen.
However, there was a time this was a genuine debate. In fact, one of the greatest shooters to ever play, Larry Bird, was of the opinion that Steph wasn’t the best, but did give him his flowers. In fact, he suggested a few names that weren’t the most popular. The 3x MVP goes on to say –
“I don’t know about that; Chris Mullin was pretty good…How about Mark Price. Deep shooters, Curry is one of the best…Reggie (Miller) hit as many big shots as I mean if you go back and look over the years as anyone.”
“Either to tie the game go up by one, or win the game, as many as anybody. I’ve seen it, I played against him, and I coached him…the thing is, anybody can shoot when it’s tied. It’s when you’re down 1 or down 2. How many guys make that shot?”
In fact, in typical Larry Legend fashion, he goes on to add his name into the mix as well. While Reggie Miller isn’t surprising, Price and Mullin are names that don’t come up too often. I mean, if Bird holds them to such a high degree, it must mean something.
One thing to keep in mind is that this interview was way back in 2015, so you can see his point of view. We’re sure if the same question was asked today, there would be only one answer.
With all that in mind, the range, the volume, the variety, no one matches the baby-faced assassin from the Warriors, and rightfully, will go down as the greatest shooter in NBA history.
