Papa Diagne 9/8/22
Why is Steph Curry the greatest shooter of all time
General introduction
Did you know it took Ray Allen 1300 games to make 2973 three pointers while it took Steph Curry only 789 games to get 2977 three pointers, (according to the nba .). Meaning it took Curry less than 500 games to have more threes than Ray Allen. Steph Curry, the point guard for the Golden State Warriors was drafted at the 7th pick during the 2009 draft. Curry’s early career was a struggle for him. He always had to deal with injuries since he was small and had weak ankles. The team even almost traded him for a bunch of okay players. Imagine if Curry was actually traded, the team would have lost the second greatest point guard of all time, second to Magic Johnson. It wasn’t until 2012, where he made his first all star game that his career started to take off. Since then, he has been the best point guard in the league, ( other than 2020 when he broke his arm) and has been breaking three point records pretty much every season. He has been dominating the league with 2 mvps, 4 nba titles, and finally a finals mvp. The team wouldn’t have succeeded this much if they traded him when they had the chance. The essay below will describe how good of a shooter Steph Curry is and why he is the greatest shooter of all time.
Author/publications/genre/medium:
The article (Steph Curry May Be the Best Shooter to Ever Play in the NBA; Curry could have sat out almost a third of his team’s games and still have had the greatest 3-point-shooting season in history) was written by Ryan Bort. is a writer and editor who covers culture, the arts, sports, and everything in between for a variety of online and print publications, including Esquire, Rolling Stone, Vice, and Grantland. The article was published March, 18 2016 by Newsweek LLC but it was uploaded on the Gale Academic OneFile database. The article is not biased and I don’t know whether it’s reliable or not since the author doesn’t just write about basketball.
Summary:
The article shows how good of a shooting season Curry had in the 2015-2016 season. “Stephen Curry has made more 3-pointers this season than any player has made in any other season in NBA history….the Warriors still had 24 games remaining on their schedule.” This statement shows that Curry broke the record for most threes in a season with fewer games played.
Purpose:
The purpose of the article is to show how good of a shooting season Steph Curry had the seasons he played especially in the 2015-2016 season. Based on the article, it states, “the most remarkable part of Curry’s exploits is that after he broke the record for most 3-pointers in a season against the Thunder, the Warriors still had 24 games remaining on their schedule. That means Curry could have sat out almost a third of his team’s games and still have had the greatest 3-point-shooting season in history. The second-, third- and sixth-greatest such seasons also belong to the 28-year-old. He has, essentially, broken the game of basketball.” This shows that Curry has been dominating the league in terms of his shooting for a very long time and has been doing so easily since he broke the record for the most threes in a season all time and still had 24 games to go.
Audience:
The audience is just your average NBA fan to show that there will be only 1 Steph Curry and there won’t be someone like him for a while. This article was written in 2016, so Curry had accomplished much more since then that has not been written in the article.
Context/Exigence:
The author shows how little respect Curry gets from the old generation just because he plays with a different style than the old generation. The article stated, “Current players can do nothing but watch with a mixture of disbelief and admiration, while former players have attributed the jagged anomaly to the sorry state of the game, not to Curry’s transcendent talent.” Instead of giving respect to someone that can do what 95% of the NBA can’t do, they will just say that the opposite team cannot play defense. Steph Curry is the best shooter of all time not just because of the most threes in a season, but also with the most threes of all time.
Tone/Stance:
The author was just amazed at how much Curry changed basketball. The article states,”Curry represents a seismic shift in our understanding of how the game should be played, and it’s happening so abruptly that no one is sure how to react.” This statement shows how Curry, by just taking a basketball and throwing it into a basket, changed basketball for everyone.
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry breaks NBA career three-point record; Curry passes Ray Allen as NBA’s all-time three-point king Warriors star breaks mark in first quarter against Knicks.
Author/publications/genre/medium:
The newspaper was published by Guardian News and Media but I found it in the GALE ACADEMIC ONEFILE like the article used in the first article. The author was not listed here, it just says agencies so I don’t know whether or not the newspaper is reliable or biased.
Summary:
The main point is that Curry broke the record Ray Allen held for a little with way less games. The newspaper states”Curry broke the record set by Ray Allen, who held it for 10 years after passing Reggie Miller. They were both at the game and presented Curry with a jersey with a 2,974 on the back.”
Purpose:
The purpose of the article is to show what it took from steph curry to surpass ray allen to make the most threes of all time. The article states, “Curry broke the record set by Ray Allen, who held it for 10 years after passing Reggie Miller. They were both at the game and presented Curry with a jersey with a 2,974 on the back…..Curry had been far from his best beyond the arc to start this road trip, going 3 for 14 in Philadelphia and then 5 for 15 in Indiana.” This shows that even though Curry struggled to get the record, he still did what was expected of him. He showed that he is the best shooter of all time by breaking a record many people thought will never be reached.
Audience:
The intended audience are the people who still think ray allen is a better shooter than steph curry. The article states, “Curry, 33, has now played 789 games, with perhaps a few more seasons at the top. At the same point in his career, Allen had 1,918 threes” This shows the difference between Ray Allen and Steph Curry. When Steph Curry and Ray Allen both played 789 games, 2977-1918, Curry had 1059 more threes.
Tone/Stance:
The author was trying to make a point that Curry is a better shooter than Ray Allen in every way possible. The author was even describing stuff only you see Steph Curry doing. The article states,”The record-breaker came on his next shot and was vintage Curry. He gave the ball up and eventually traced back to the outside, getting the ball back and seemingly launching it in the same motion before a defender could get out to him.. Not an easy shot, but Curry has made it so many times he knew this one was pure.” Curry has done this many times, moving back to defense after shooting a three because he knows it’s good. Not many players can shoot a shot, turn around, start walking back and not look back because you’re confident that the shot is going in.
Context/Exigence:
The newspaper was published to congratulate Curry for breaking the NBA all time three point record, to show that there’s no shooter like him past and present and most likely not in the future, and how he changed the game of basketball. The article states,””He has revolutionized the way the game is played and continues to leave fans in awe with his amazing artistry and extraordinary shooting ability,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We congratulate him on this historic achievement.”” The commissioner is saying that Curry continues to amaze fans while changing the game of basketball. If this is not proof enough, I will give you more reasons why Curry is the greatest shooter of all time.
Author/publications/genre/medium:
The magazine ( the case for Steph curry) was written by lee Jenkins. He was a writer for sports illustrated when the article was written. It was published by sports illustrated but was found on the Ccny database like all the other used sources.
Summary:
Curry was playing great in the 2014-2015 season
. It felt like he was on fire for the whole season torching the whole league. The article states,” He was there when he splashed a record of 286 three-pointers 98 in the playoffs, 40 more than the previous mark.” This statement is showing that Curry was breaking pretty much every three-point record that season and nobody was getting close to the best.
Purpose:
The author’s purpose was to show how good of a season curry had at that time by showing the records and the awards he got that season. The magazine states,” He was there when he splashed a record of 286 three-pointers 98 in the playoffs, 40 more than the previous mark… He was there when he delivered a heartfelt mvp speech,” this showing that Curry’s shooting is so good that it got him an mvp
Audience:
There wasn’t a specific audience targeted when writing the article but imma take a guess and say a nba fan, whether you were fan of curry or not since the magazine states,” they must have not noticed that he was surrounded by his own force field. No one could touch him- not Anthony Davis, not James Harden, not lebron James.” This saying that curry was really like that, just mainly shooting from behind the three-point line, he was the best that season.
Context/exigence
Lee Jenkins wrote the magazine o talk about one of the candidates for sportsman of the year. (Can be found on top right of the article) There is no bigger meaning, lee just wrote about how good of a season curry had in 2015 and why he is a candidate for sportsman of the year.
Tone/stance:
The author is showing respect by showing his accomplishments and why he deserves the sportsman of the year. The author states,”He was there when he splashed a record of 286 three-pointers 98 in the playoffs, 40 more than the previous mark… He was there when he delivered a heartfelt mvp speech,” Part of the statement have been used multiple times but it shows how good of a season curry had and why he deserves more respect than he usually gets. He had a great season here but if you paid attention, he had a better season in the first source used.
Author/publications/genre/medium:
The article (THE WEST’S NEW SHOWTIME THE LONG RANGERS) was written by Chris Ballard, who is an American sports journalist and a senior writer at Sports Illustrated.(according to Wikipedia). The article is published by sports Illustrated, which makes it a scholarly article since sports illustrated always reviews their stuff before it is published.
Summary:
Curry has been a great shooter in the league but what drove him to be what he is today. How he and Klay Thompson became the greatest shooting backcourt of all time. The author states,” Old nba game footage shows a wispy Curry trailing his 6’5” father, Dell, before Charlotte Hornets games.” This shows that his father was trying to get him into basketball so he can be like him or even be better than him which he accomplished easily.
Purpose:
The author’s purpose is to show Steph Curry and Klay Thompson’s early life, what drove them to play basketball, their early career and how they became the greatest shooting backcourt of all time. The author states,” As an eighth grader he scored 54 points in a police league game… klay fell in love with jump shots. His favorite challenge: see how many threes he could do without touching the rim.” This may not be the best evidence but this shows they have been thinking how to shoot threes since they were kids.
Audience:
The intended main audience are the young fans since it shows the steps they went through to be what they are. The author states,””he was tiny,” says dell, “but he could always shoot it .” This shows that basketball no matter what, if you have something you’re decent at, practicing that talent and being good could get you far and it doesn’t have to be shooting.
Context/exigence:
Curry and Klay Thompson’s great shooting led the author to write about them because nobody hasn’t seen a backcourt like that and the people need to know where they come from and how they became that good at shooting. The article’s description states,” Curry is a scoring hybrid point guard and an excellent long range shooter, while klay Thompson is seen as a classic nba player who shoots with a quick release.” The people need to know what process it took to be like this hence the author writing the article.
Tone/stance
Like every author used in the article, this author is showing respect to the splash brothers. He states,”THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BACKCOURT LIKE THE WARRIORS KLAY THOMPSON AND STEPH CURRY, TWO YOUNG GUNNERS WHOSE SHOOTING RANGE ASTOUNDS EVEN THEMSELVES.” The author is saying that, very loud since it’s all in capital, that curry and klay are the best shooting backcourt in nba history. If you still don’t believe curry is the best shooter, I don’t know what to tell you except go to the doctor.
Conclusion:
As mentioned above, Curry is the greatest shooter of all time by breaking the record for most threes in a season twice in a row, for breaking the all time record and for being part of the greatest backcourt of all time: the splash brothers. He has been torching the league since he was drafted, breaking records that were there for multiple years like most threes in a game,(klay then broke that record), most threes in a season, most games in a row with at least one three etc. Curry has proven why is the greatest shooter of all time and he is still not done. At the end of his career, even his haters will say he is the greatest shooter of all time.
https://www.nba.com/news/stephen-curry-tracker-all-time-3s-record (not a rhetorical described sourced but used on the intro)
Bort, Ryan. “Steph Curry May Be the Best Shooter to Ever Play in the NBA; Curry could have sat out almost a third of his team’s games and still have had the greatest 3-point-shooting season in history.” Newsweek, vol. 166, no. 11, 18 Mar. 2016. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A445844111/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=d5b349f4. Accessed 15 Sept. 2022. (https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=cuny_ccny&id=GALE|A445844111&v=2.1&it=r)
“Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry breaks NBA career three-point record; Curry passes Ray Allen as NBA’s all-time three-point kingWarriors star breaks mark in first quarter against Knicks.” Guardian [London, England], 20 Dec. 2021, p. NA. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A687486663/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=0405300e. Accessed 15 Sept. 2022.
(https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=cuny_ccny&id=GALE|A687486663&v=2.1&it=r)
Jenkins. (2015). The Case for . . . Steph Curry. Sports Illustrated, 123(21), 26–.
https://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=111186014&S=R&D=ulh&EbscoContent=dGJyMMvl7ESep7c40dvuOLCmsEqeprBSsKa4SrWWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGrtlG0prBJuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA
Ballard. (2013). THE WEST’S NEW SHOWTIME THE LONG RANGERS.(Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson). Sports Illustrated, 119(17), 1–.
https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=633f582c-835d-4c88-a41b-b2ad1b23ffea%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=91571701&db=ulh