Leading 3 Point Shooters in NBA History: Ranking the Greatest Sharpshooters of All Time

I still remember that sweltering July afternoon in 2018, sitting in a Manila sports bar with my cousin Miguel while NBA Summer League games flickered across the screens above us. The air conditioning struggled against the tropical heat as we debated basketball's evolution over San Miguel beers. "Bakit natin pinapaabot du'n pa?" Miguel asked in Tagalog, shaking his head as another player launched from well beyond the arc. Why do we extend the game out there? His question stuck with me because it perfectly captured basketball's fundamental shift - the three-point revolution that transformed how we view scoring and created the conversation about leading 3 point shooters in NBA history.

That moment in Manila made me realize how dramatically the game had changed since my childhood watching 90s basketball. Back then, the three-pointer felt almost like a trick shot - something teams used sparingly, like a changeup pitch in baseball. Today, it's the fastball, the foundation of modern offenses. I've come to appreciate this evolution through years of tracking games, and it's impossible to discuss the greatest sharpshooters without starting with Stephen Curry. The man literally broke the game - I remember watching him drain 402 threes in the 2015-16 season thinking nobody would ever come close, yet here we are with players regularly attempting what would've been considered reckless shots a decade ago.

What fascinates me about ranking the greatest sharpshooters isn't just the raw numbers but the context. Ray Allen's 2,973 career threes held the record for years, but his graceful catch-and-shoot style contrasted sharply with Curry's dribble-up fireworks. I've always had a soft spot for Reggie Miller's clutch gene - that man had ice in his veins during crucial moments, and his 256 playoff threes demonstrated he wasn't just a regular-season wonder. Then there's Kyle Korver, who might be the purest shooter I've ever seen - his shooting form was practically geometric perfection.

The "bakit natin pinapaabot du'n pa" philosophy Miguel questioned actually explains why modern shooters dominate these rankings. Teams realized extending defenses created spacing miracles, and players like James Harden and Damian Lillard took this to logical extremes with their deep-range bombs. I'll admit I'm biased toward Curry - his ability to shoot off movement, from distance, and under pressure makes him the most transformative shooter I've witnessed. But the beautiful thing about this debate is how personal preferences shape it. Some value volume, others efficiency, and many (like me) prioritize game-changing impact. The three-point line isn't just part of basketball anymore - it's become the game's punctuation mark, and these shooters are its most eloquent authors.