Greatest Shooters in NBA History

Ask 10 basketball fans who the greatest shooter in NBA history is and you’ll get one answer: Stephen Curry. And they’re probably right — but the actual statistical leaders tell a more complicated story. The all-time percentage leaderboards are dominated by names most casual fans wouldn’t recognize, and Curry himself doesn’t top a single one of them.

So who actually deserves the “best shooter ever” title? It depends on how you define it. Here’s the honest breakdown of what the leaderboards above tell us, and where pure volume changes the conversation.

The 3-point leaderboard: Steve Kerr is technically right

If you’re looking strictly at 3-point percentage with a meaningful attempt minimum, Steve Kerr’s 45.4% is the all-time record and probably will be forever. He shot the three better than anyone in NBA history during a 15-year career.

But here’s the asterisk: Kerr attempted 1,599 threes total. Stephen Curry attempts more than that every two seasons. Kerr was a specialist who took only the cleanest, most open looks his entire career — usually as the fifth option on Bulls and Spurs teams featuring Jordan, Pippen, Duncan, and Robinson. He was never the player defenses planned around.

Curry has shot 42.3% on over 9,700 attempts. He’s the player every defense in the league game-plans for. He’s pulled up from 30 feet with hands in his face thousands of times. The fact that he’s still hitting 42% under those conditions is, statistically, a more impressive accomplishment than Kerr’s higher percentage on lower volume.

The honest answer: Kerr is the best 3-point shooter by percentage. Curry is the best 3-point shooter, period. Volume matters when comparing greatness, and Curry has revolutionized the position in a way Kerr never did or could.

Klay Thompson and Ray Allen: the volume specialists

Klay Thompson at 41.1% on over 6,500 career attempts is one of the most underrated entries on this list. Klay has the lowest variance of any high-volume shooter in NBA history — he doesn’t get hot, he doesn’t go cold, he just shoots 40% from three every single year for 13 years. His ability to be a nuclear scorer without any dribble (most of his threes come catch-and-shoot or off one quick step) makes him different from Curry and a perfect complement.

Ray Allen at exactly 40.0% career on 7,429 attempts is the obvious historical benchmark. Until Curry passed him, Allen was the all-time made-threes leader, and his shot in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals is probably the single most important three-pointer ever made. He didn’t have Curry’s range or Klay’s pure technique, but he had elite footwork on relocations and a release as quick as anyone who’s ever played.

If you’re picking one shooter to take a contested three with the season on the line, the order is probably Curry, Allen, Klay. Reasonable people can argue any of those three.

The free throw leaderboard: where greatness shows up

Free throw percentage is the purest test of pure shooting ability — same shot, same distance, no defender, every time. And Stephen Curry leads the all-time list at 91.0%.

This matters more than people realize. Free throws are a stripped-down version of shooting where the only variables are touch, technique, and mental composure. Curry being the best ever at this — across over 4,100 attempts in pressure situations — speaks to a fundamental skill set that goes beyond his 3-point gravity.

Steve Nash and Mark Price are tied at 90.4%, both legendary point guards who built their offensive games around shooting efficiency. Rick Barry’s 90.0% is remarkable because he played in an era of rougher physicality and shot underhanded — the famous granny-style technique that should embarrass every modern player who can’t crack 75%.

Damian Lillard’s 89.8% deserves attention too. Among active players, only Curry shoots a higher percentage at the line, and Dame’s 89.8% has come on more than 5,000 attempts. The conversation about clutch shooters in this era starts with Curry but Lillard is right there.

Reggie Miller’s place in history

Reggie Miller’s 88.8% career free throw percentage on 6,237 makes might be the most overlooked shooter accomplishment of the modern era. Reggie is remembered as a 3-point assassin (40+% career, second all-time in makes when he retired), but he was also one of the great free throw shooters in NBA history — and he made his free throws in the most hostile road environments of any player ever.

Reggie at the line in Madison Square Garden with Spike Lee screaming at him five feet away is the kind of pressure modern players don’t face. The fact that he shot 88.8% across two decades of that environment puts him in legitimate top-five-ever conversations even in an era that’s produced so many high-percentage shooters since.

The field goal leaderboard tells a different story

The field goal percentage leaders are almost all centers who never shot outside of three feet. DeAndre Jordan at 67.4% is the all-time leader because he literally never took a shot that wasn’t a dunk or layup. Same with Rudy Gobert (66.0%), Mitchell Robinson (65.5%), and Clint Capela (62.4%).

This list is more about shot selection than shooting ability. None of these players could shoot from 18 feet if you spotted them a running start. They’re elite finishers, not elite shooters.

The actually impressive names on the FG% list are the ones who shot from everywhere and still hit 50+%: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at 55.9%, Charles Barkley at 54.1%, Magic Johnson at 52.0%, Kevin Durant at 50.5%. Those guys created their own shots from anywhere on the floor and still finished above league average for their entire careers.

Kevin Durant in particular belongs in the all-time shooter conversation. He shoots 88.5% from the line, 38% from three, and 50% from the field across nearly 20 seasons — at 6’11”. No player his size has ever combined that touch with that volume. Durant being a top-five shooter ever, regardless of position, isn’t a hot take. It’s just true.

Larry Bird, the original prototype

Larry Bird shows up on all three leaderboards — 37.6% from three, 88.6% from the line, 49.6% from the field. He’s not the best on any of them, but the combination is unprecedented for a forward of his era. Bird was shooting 88% from the line and 38% from three in the 1980s, when the league average from three was below 30% and most forwards didn’t even attempt them.

Pre-Curry, Bird was the answer to “best shooting forward ever.” Post-Curry and Durant, he’s still in the conversation. The fact that his percentages hold up against modern shooters playing in a 3-point-friendly era is the actual achievement.

So who’s actually the best shooter ever?

Here’s the honest answer: it’s Stephen Curry, but not because he leads any single category. It’s because he’s the only player in NBA history who is simultaneously elite in all three.

Curry is 12th in 3-point percentage on the highest volume of attempts in NBA history. He’s first in free throw percentage. He’s not on the field goal leaderboard, but he shoots 47% from the field across 1,000+ games as a 6’2″ guard — far above average for his position.

Steve Kerr was a better pure 3-point shooter on small volume. Rick Barry might have been a better pure free throw shooter. DeAndre Jordan has a higher field goal percentage. But no one has ever combined volume, range, percentage, and degree-of-difficulty the way Curry has.

The eye test agrees with the volume-adjusted analytics, which agree with the championships, which agree with the cultural impact. Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter in NBA history. The leaderboards are just confirming it from different angles.

— Drew, Legion Report