“Steph and Allen Iverson are the two biggest influential guys in our game since I’ve been watching and covering it.” Even LeBron James had no issue praising his Olympic teammate and placed him on a pedestal alongside Allen Iverson. Everyone is aware of Stephen Curry’s impact on the game, especially from beyond the arc. Despite his proficiency, a former Warriors star doesn’t believe Curry is all that great, and his answer highlights the skill debate between the generations.

“I think that’s the elevation of coaching and again, I think anything you practice at with the skill set and the level of intensity that we did and with these young dudes do as professionals, I think you’re going to get there. But you know, in 86, Curry would have got benched for shooting and making a shot,” Chris Webber, on the 87th episode of Mark Jackson’s podcast, explained his take.

“He could have did it five times in a row and still gotten benched the next game. Because coach wanted to show that this is his team and we don’t do things that way. So I’m glad that the game is grown and allow players to grow with it,” he further added.

Per the 5x All-Star, the league and the coaches demanded more play in the paint earlier. That is why there was increased physicality in the game. Now with the changing rules and more space opening up for the players, 3-point shooting has gained emphasis.

The league-wide 3-point rate was below 10% until the early 90s. An NBA study also revealed that shooting was 22.2% in 2010-11 and rose to 39.2% in the 2020-21 season. Because of the shooting from beyond the arc, scoring from inside the paint has dropped. The same data also indicated that the mid-range percentage saw a sharp decline from 31% to just 13%.

Analyzing Stephen Curry’s fastest 3-point shooting record

With his debut in 87, Reggie Miller started shooting more from the 3-point line. With his ability, he ranked in the top 10 in made 3-pointers in each of his first 15 seasons. The impressive stat is that the Pacers legend led the league twice and was top 5 in 11 seasons. But the pace at which he took them was slow (1.8 per game).

That’s why it took him 1,389 games to accumulate his 2,560 career 3-pointers. 9 years later, Celtics legend Ray Allen made his debut, and even his shooting beyond the arc meant he was in top position in that category for 6 different seasons. Plus, it took him only 1,074 games to surpass Miller. His overall totals came to 1300 games played and 2973 3 PM. Then came the Baby Faced Assassin, who needed only 762 games to surpass the Pacers’ legend, a whopping 55% less.

To break Allen’s record in 2021, Stephen Curry took just 786 games. “It’s just a natural flow from the time you see either I’m dribbling, or the ball is coming on a pass, to the time the ball hits my hand, and I know I’m going to shoot.” So not only does Chef Curry shoot the ball, but his style of play encourages the others to take more shots as well. Something that was missing back in the day, as per Webber.