There has been an abundance of comparisons between Steph Curry and Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, as most are prisoners-of-the-moment takes based on ignorance.
Yes, Lillard has been absolutely incredible during the NBA reunion in the lead of the Trail Blazers to the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
No, he did not surpass Curry as the best point guard in the game.
That said, Lillard is likely to close the gap. And now he has done something that no player other than Curry has achieved in NBA history.
Players who scored 40% of three on at least 10 three-point attempts per game in a season:
– Steph Curry (2x)
– Damian Lillard this season pic.twitter.com/jiPsMGW2If– StatMuse (@statmuse) August 14, 2020
Lillard ended the regular season Thursday with 40.1 percent shooting from 3-point range on 10.1 3-point attempts per game, becoming just the second player in league history to place that kind of efficiency at such a high volume . Curry is obviously the other, and he has done it twice.
[RUNNIN’ PLAYS PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode]
In his unanimous MVP season in 2015-16, Curry shot a riding 45.4 percent from long distance on 11.2 3-point attempts per game. Then, in 2018-19, he made 43.7 percent of his 11.7 3-point attempts per game.
And he just amper failed to complete the feat a third time.
In 2016-17, Curry shot 41.1 percent from 3-point land, but did not attempt enough 3s to qualify.
He literally was one attempt short.
curry in 2016-17 actually took 789 tries in 79 games. he needs 1 more three-point attempt to make an average of 10 a game.
– StatMuse (@statmuse) August 14, 2020
[RELATED: Steph, Dame deserve better than these ridiculous debates]
That, technically, Lillard will only have to do it once to get over with Curry.
That is, unless Curry next season reminds everyone why he’s the greatest shooter in NBA history.
