The NBA has seen thousands of players, but only a select few can be called truly elite shooters. Instead of a simple list, this ranking breaks shooters into tiers, based on efficiency, volume, impact, and how they changed the game.
Here are the 20 greatest shooters in NBA history — ranked by tier rather than just stats.
Contents
A quick note on what "greatest shooter" actually means
This is where most lists go wrong. They either rank pure efficiency (in which case Steve Kerr is #1 and we're done in five seconds), or they rank pure volume (in which case Klay's record-setting 14 threes in a quarter beats Curry's whole career and we know that's wrong too).
Real shooting greatness is four things stacked together: efficiency (you have to actually make them), volume (taking five threes a game is different from taking ten), difficulty (catch-and-shoot wide open isn't the same as pulling up off the dribble with a hand in your face), and impact (did defenses change because of you, or did you just exist within an existing system).
Curry hits all four at the highest level anyone ever has. The further down this list you go, the more guys are elite at two or three of those four. That's the framework. Let's go.
Tier 1: The Game-Changers
These three didn't just shoot well. They changed how the game is played, scouted, and coached.
1. Stephen Curry
Yeah, obviously. But let me say this clearly because some of the takes I've seen lately are wild: it's not even close. Steph isn't just the best shooter ever — the gap between him and #2 is bigger than the gap between #2 and #20.
The career numbers are insane on their own. Over 4,000 made threes (no one else is over 3,000). 91.0% career free throw shooting, the all-time record by a meaningful margin. 42.3% from three on the highest volume in basketball history. He's the only player to ever average 5+ threes per game over a career.
But the numbers undersell the actual revolution. Before Curry, teams shot maybe 18-20 threes a game. He made it 35+ league-wide. He made the half-court logo shot a real basketball play. He made gravity an offensive concept — defenses now bend their entire scheme around where Steph might be standing, three passes ahead of where the ball is.
The single play that makes the case: Game 6, 2022 Finals. He drops 34 in Boston, on the road, to clinch his fourth ring and finally get his Finals MVP. After ten years of "but he's never won without KD" takes, he answers the only question left.
Greatest ever. Period. Move on.
2. Klay Thompson
The volume per opportunity is the thing nobody talks about enough.
Klay's 60 points on 11 dribbles against the Pacers in 2016 should be illegal. That's averaging 5.45 points per dribble. He's not creating his own shot, he's not posting up, he's not running the offense — he's just receiving and firing. And making 21 of 33 from the field, 8 of 14 from three, while rarely touching the ball.
His 37 points in a quarter against the Kings (still the NBA record) and 14 made threes in a game (also still the record) both happened on absurd efficiency. This is what separates Klay from the volume guys below him: when he goes off, he goes off without dominating possessions. That makes him the perfect co-star, which is probably why he and Curry are the greatest backcourt of all time.
The injuries cost him a real shot at the Tier 1 conversation as a co-#1, but he's safely #2 ever as a pure jump shooter, and it's the catch-and-shoot game specifically that puts him there. There's a reason every shooting coach in the country still uses Klay's footwork and release as the model.
3. Ray Allen
Held the all-time threes record before Curry took it. Career 40.0% from deep on real volume. And here's the thing nobody mentions — he hit the shot. Game 6, 2013 Finals, corner three, Spurs already had the championship trophy out in the hallway. If that ball doesn't go in, the Heat lose to the Spurs, LeBron probably has one ring, and the entire 2010s NBA narrative is different.
What I love about Ray's case is the second-act transformation. Early-career Ray was an athletic two-way scorer averaging 24 a game. Late-career Ray, in Boston and Miami, became basically a corner-three sniper running off screens, and somehow got better at the pure shooting part. The mechanics, the routine, the obsessive 200-makes-before-every-game work ethic — Ray basically invented the idea of the modern specialist.
I have him third because Curry and Klay both surpassed him on volume and efficiency. But for about a decade, this was the standard.
Tier 2: The Killers
These four guys could win a game by themselves on any given night, with the shot in their hands. Not specialists — primary scorers who happened to also be elite shooters.
4. Larry Bird
This is going to be the controversial one. I have Bird at #4, ahead of Durant, ahead of Reggie, ahead of Lillard. Here's why.
Bird shot 50/40/90 the entire prime of his career in an era where almost nobody was attempting threes (he averaged about 1.9 attempts a game — Curry averages 11). His career 37.6% from three sounds modest until you realize the league average his entire career was around 30%. He was 7+ percentage points above league average for a decade. Curry is currently about 6 points above league average.
The trash talk is also part of the case, because it speaks to confidence under pressure. The 1986 Three-Point Contest, where he walked into the locker room and asked, "Which one of you guys is finishing second?" Then went out and won it. He won three in a row.
The 1988 Game 7 against Atlanta — 20 points in the fourth quarter, 9-of-10 shooting, finishing the Hawks himself in a game they were leading. That was on big shots, mid-range and deep. Magic called it the greatest individual quarter he ever saw.
If Bird had been born in 1996 instead of 1956, he'd be averaging 9 attempts a game from three and shooting 42% on them. The mechanics, the touch, the cold-blooded confidence — they all translate. Top 5 ever, easily.
5. Kevin Durant
7-foot pull-up jumper from anywhere on the floor. There has never been anything like this in the history of the league and there will probably never be again.
Career 50/38/88 splits as a 7-footer who creates his own shot. Think about how absurd that is. Dirk shot 47% from the floor and we considered that a revolution for a 7-footer. KD shoots 50% while taking the hardest shots in basketball — pull-ups, fadeaways, isolation jumpers over double teams. Wilt's career FG% is 54% and he was shooting layups.
The 2017 and 2018 Finals daggers over LeBron in Cleveland are the canonical moments, but the case isn't really about specific shots — it's about the consistent unguardability. What do you do when a 7-footer with a Curry release and a Jordan handle pulls up over you? The answer is "die slowly," which is what most defenders have done for 19 years.
The reason he's #5 and not higher: lower volume from three than the guys above him, and he has more of a midrange-fadeaway profile than a pure shooter profile. But shot-for-shot, this might be the most impossible-to-stop shooter ever.
6. Reggie Miller
Reggie was Curry before there was a Curry — minus the dribbling, minus the off-the-bounce stuff, minus the volume. But the off-ball wizardry, the constant motion, the relocation, the ability to score in five seconds with no time out left? Reggie wrote the book.
Career 39.5% from three on 6,200+ makes. Eight seconds in Madison Square Garden. The choke sign at Spike Lee. The willingness to shove Michael Jordan in the back to create a step of separation, draw the foul, and hit the three anyway. Reggie's whole career was confidence as a competitive weapon.
What hurts his case is the volume disparity with the modern era — he averaged 4.7 three attempts a game, less than half what Curry takes now. But he was top 3-4 in the league in attempts almost every year of his career. He was a high-volume shooter for his time, and his impact in the clutch matters as much as any number on the page.
7. Damian Lillard
Logo Lillard. The shot to end the 2019 series against OKC, at the buzzer, from 37 feet, waving goodbye while it was still in the air. That single moment is more shooting confidence than most players display in their whole career.
The career numbers are top-tier — 89.8% career free throws (5th all-time), 37%+ from three on absurd volume, second only to Curry in made threes per game over a career. The pull-up three from 30+ feet wasn't a real shot in basketball before Curry and Lillard made it one, and Dame might be the most fearless practitioner of it.
The reason he's not higher is the playoff record (no Finals appearance) and a slightly lower true-shooting profile than the guys above. But the deep three is genuinely a Lillard shot the way the fadeaway was a Jordan shot — defenders have to extend out further than is sustainable, which opens the rest of his game.
Tier 3: The Pure Shooters
Top 5-10 ever in pure efficiency. Some had elite volume, some didn't. All of them, if you needed one shot to win a game, you'd take and you'd live with the result.
8. Steve Nash
Career 49/43/90 splits. Read that again. Nobody else in NBA history has career splits like that. Mark Price came close. That's the entire list.
Nash is the rare point guard who was the primary offensive shot creator on his team and also one of the most efficient shooters in NBA history. The Seven Seconds or Less Suns weren't a one-off system — they redefined modern offense, and Nash's pull-up midrange + threat from three is the entire reason it worked.
I have him here in Tier 3 instead of Tier 2 because his three-point volume was lower than the modern guys (career 4.2 attempts a game) and he wasn't asked to be the high-volume scorer on his team. But shot-for-shot, this is one of the cleanest, smartest, most efficient shooters ever to play.
9. Dirk Nowitzki
Greatest shooting big man of all time, and it's not particularly close. Career 47% from the field, 38% from three, 88% from the line — at 7 feet, against opposing big men who had no idea how to defend a fadeaway from 22 feet on one leg.
The signature shot — the one-legged, leaning-back fadeaway — was so unguardable it became the entire offense. The 2011 Finals run, where he shot 48/46/94 in the playoffs and dragged the Mavs over a stacked Heat team, is one of the great offensive performances in postseason history.
He's at #9 because the mechanics were unorthodox enough that "shooter" doesn't quite capture what he was — he was more of a scorer with elite shooting ability. But he changed the position. Every stretch four in the league owes him royalties.
10. Peja Stojaković
People forget how good Peja was at his peak. From 2002-2005 he was one of the three or four best shooters in the league, full stop. Career 40.1% from three on 5+ attempts a game (high volume for his era). 89.5% from the line, top 10 all-time.
The 2002 Three-Point Contest, the Kings' Princeton-style offense built around his off-ball movement, the 2005-06 season averaging 24/5 on those efficiency numbers — Peja was a problem. The reason his name doesn't come up more is the back injuries cost him about three prime years and prevented him from putting up the career counting stats. But on a per-shot basis, he was elite.
11. Kyle Korver
Top 5 all-time in made threes (2,450+). Career 42.9% from deep, which would lead the league in most modern seasons. The 2014-15 season where he shot 49.2% from three on 5.2 attempts a game might be the single most efficient high-volume shooting season ever.
I want to be careful not to overrate Korver — he was a specialist, not a primary scorer, and there's a meaningful gap between "best shooter on the floor when you have the ball" and "best shooter on the floor when you don't." Korver was the latter. But within that role, he is the gold standard. Every modern off-ball shooter — JJ Redick, Joe Harris, Duncan Robinson — is studying Korver footage.
12. JJ Redick
Made a 15-year career on three skills: footwork, relocation, and a release that came out at the same angle every single time. 89.2% career free throws. 41.5% from three on real volume. Took those skills and turned himself from a Duke college player into one of the most reliable role players of the 2010s.
Redick belongs on this list because he's the modern proof of concept that intelligence + technique can compete with athleticism. He couldn't really dribble, couldn't defend, couldn't post — and still played meaningful playoff minutes for 15 years because if you left him open for half a second he punished you.
Tier 4: The Unsung Snipers
These guys don't get mentioned enough. Some are recency victims, some are era victims, all of them deserve more respect.
13. Mark Price
Genuine controversy that Mark Price isn't a Hall of Famer yet. Career 90.4% free throw shooter, second-best ever for a long time. Career 40.2% from three at a time when very few guards were even attempting them. 50/40/90 in three different seasons — the Cleveland Cavaliers' point guard who basically pre-invented Steve Nash before Nash was Nash.
The injuries derailed his late career, and the Jordan-era Cavs never broke through, but in terms of pure shooting ability he's a top-15 guy and probably top-10 if he'd had a healthier prime.
14. Hubert Davis
Hear me out. Career 44.1% from three. Second-highest in NBA history with the standard 1,000-attempt minimum. Played 12 NBA seasons as a high-volume specialist before specialists were really a thing.
Davis is on this list as a tribute to the role-player tradition and to make the point that career percentage actually matters. He's not Curry or Klay, but if your main skill is "shoot the basketball at a higher percentage than any other shooter in NBA history this side of Steve Kerr," that earns a spot.
15. Mitch Richmond
Six-time All-Star who never got his playoff moment because he was on bad Kings teams during the prime years. But the man could shoot — career 45% from the field, 39% from three, 85% from the line on real scoring volume (averaged 21+ for his career).
What gets overlooked: Richmond did this in the bridge era between 1980s post play and 1990s perimeter play, when the three-point line was still settling into the league. He was one of the proof-of-concept players for the modern wing scorer.
16. Allan Houston
The smoothest mid-range stroke of his era. Career 86% from the line, 40% from three, with a release so quick and clean that opposing coaches built game plans around forcing him left. The 2002 second-round buzzer-beater against the Heat — falling sideways, off the glass, with Alonzo Mourning contesting — is one of the great clutch shots that nobody outside New York remembers.
Houston gets penalized by the Knicks fan tax (everyone hates the Knicks except Knicks fans) but the shooting was real.
Tier 5: The Active Era
Hard to fully rank players whose careers aren't done yet. These guys are absolutely on Hall of Fame trajectories, and a couple might end up climbing the all-time list significantly before they're done.
17. James Harden
The step-back three is a Harden invention. Other people had used it; he weaponized it and made it the most analytically efficient shot in basketball outside of a layup. Career 86% from the line on absurd volume, 36% from three (lower than this list's average but on truly insane attempts — over 2 million, slight exaggeration).
The reason he's #17 and not higher: the percentages are merely good, not elite, and a lot of his shooting greatness is intertwined with foul-drawing genius rather than pure shot-making. But you can't have a "greatest shooters" list and exclude the guy who created an entirely new shot type.
18. Khris Middleton
Quietly one of the most efficient mid-range shooters of the 2010s and 2020s. The 2021 Finals, where he was the second-best player on a championship team and hit big shot after big shot — that's resume enough. Career 88% from the line, 38% from three, on the rare combination of catch-and-shoot AND off-the-dribble shot diet.
19. Paul George
When healthy and right, George is a 40%+ three-point shooter on 8+ attempts a game. The 2018-19 season where he finished 3rd in MVP voting averaging 28/8/4 on 38% from three at high volume might be the peak. Injuries have eroded the late-career trajectory, but the shooting at his peak was elite.
20. Trae Young
This pick is forward-looking. Young is already top 20 all-time in made threes by his late 20s, and the deep range (he attempts more 30+ foot shots than anyone except Curry and Lillard) plus the 87% career free-throw shooting suggests he'll climb significantly higher on this list before he's done. The defensive issues and shot selection are real concerns; the shooting talent is undeniable.
A few honorable mentions that didn't make the cut
I had to leave guys off, and I want to address the loudest ones:
Steve Kerr — The career 3P% leader of all time at 45.4%. I left him off because he was a true specialist on stacked Bulls/Spurs teams and never had to create his own shot. Greatest catch-and-shoot specialist ever, but specialists aren't quite the same as shooters in the broader sense.
Kyrie Irving — Elite shooter, no question. The 2016 Finals Game 7 three over Klay is in the all-time clutch shot pantheon. He's borderline top 20, and on a different day I might have him in over Trae Young or Paul George.
Kevin Martin / Jamal Crawford / Lou Williams — Volume scorers with real shooting touch. Just couldn't fit the volume of guys who made it.
Klay's brother Mychal — Just kidding, but only barely.
Final argument
The single most controversial thing about my list is probably Bird at #4. I'm sticking with it. Watch the 1986 Three-Point Contest tape. Watch the 1988 Atlanta Game 7. Watch him casually drop 60 on the Hawks while wearing what looked like a knee brace made of duct tape. The mechanics translate to any era.
The other thing I want to flag: the gap between Curry and #2 is so much bigger than people realize. We're three years past the moment when "who's the GOAT shooter" was a real conversation. It isn't anymore. There's Steph, and there's everyone else.
Disagree? Tell me where I got it wrong. The whole point of these lists is the argument.