Stephen Curry is so good at shooting three-pointers that other players shouldn’t even be compared to him.
At least that’s the way James Harden sees it.
The Los Angeles Clippers star is just 33 made three-pointers away from tying Ray Allen (2,973) for the second-most in NBA history. He opened up about his place in three-point shooting history during an interview with ESPN’s Shams Charania that was published Wednesday and seemed to understand nobody is catching Curry.
“You listen, I’m going to consider myself No. 1. Steph doesn’t count,” Harden said. “Y’all see what that dude be doing? And we came in the same year. I can’t speak for Steph, but for me it’s like, when I got drafted and was trying to find my way in the league and all that, I didn’t expect it to be this level.
“And I’m sure he didn’t expect to be this level. I’m sure the scouts and all the guys that were looking at it like, OK, he can shoot, but come on, man. He’s the greatest shooter we’ve ever seen.”
Harden was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2009 NBA draft, while Curry was the No. 7 pick.
It’s a testament to Curry’s greatness that Harden may retire as the second-best outside shooter in the history of the league and still not even be the best one in his own draft class. The Golden State Warriors star has 3,747 career three-pointers and doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all considering he led the league with 357 last season.
It was the eighth time the future Hall of Famer led the league in his illustrious career, and it’s a safe bet he will do so again in 2024-25 if he remains healthy.
After all, Curry has five of the top six single-season marks for made three-pointers, including the record 402 he hit in 2015-16.
Harden actually has the second-highest mark with 378 from the 2018-19 campaign.
He will also surely pass Allen’s mark at some point this season. He made 186 triples in 2023-24 and figures to assume an even bigger offensive role to start the campaign with Kawhi Leonard sidelined.