The best pure shooters in basketball history

Most shooters have great form; only occasionally will you see someone light it up without also displaying proper fundamentals, from their footwork to their follow-through. Rarely, though, will you see someone whose shooting form is as aesthetically pleasing as Allen's. He really elevated for each shot, released the ball in perfect position, and then followed through perfectly. Every shot was something out of an instructional video. Allen led the league in made three-pointers three times, and for his career shot an even 40 percent from distance, as well as 89.4 percent from the free-throw line. The Hall of Famer also rather famously made this shot. 

If you're a younger fan and Barry crosses your mind, the first thing you probably think of is, "Isn't he that guy that shot his free throws underhanded, granny-style?" The answer is yes, yes he is. A member of the ABA All-Time Team and the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, Barry was much more than a funky free-throw artist. His numbers aren't eye-popping; the ABA had a three-point line during his last four seasons, but he was a mere 27.7 percent shooter in that span. Still, he led the ABA in free-throw percentage once, and then repeated the feat six more times in the NBA. He was also one of the league's best pure scorers, leading the league with 35.6 points per game in his second season. 

Bird came up in an era where the three-point shot was both relatively new and not a big part of any team's offense. He was a career 37.6 percent shooter from behind the arc. That said, leaving him off of any list of the best pure shooters would be criminal. Bird was pure from midrange, could finish with both hands out to several feet, was a career 88.6 percent free-throw shooter, and was equally dangerous off the dribble and spotting up. Had Bird played in the modern era, it's fair to assume he'd have averaged over 30 points per game with regularity. 

Clark, the all-time leading scorer in women's NCAA history, has revolutionized her sport in much the same way Stephen Curry turned the NBA on its ear. Whether or not Clark is the best collegiate women's player in history will be debated for years. With an effective range that starts a dribble inside of half court, there shouldn't be any debate that she's the greatest shooter. It's also a good bet that, much as she has done at Iowa, she'll turn the WNBA's Indiana Fever (who drafted her No. 1 overall in April) into a marquee attraction. Oh, and in case you forgot, this is how she broke the NCAA scoring record.

Curry is, by my reckoning the greatest shooter in the history of the sport, a player whose range and effectiveness changed the way NBA basketball was played. Curry is a career 42.5 percent three-point shooter, in addition to shooting 91 percent from the line. He's also led the league in made threes eight different times, and has only shot under 40 percent from distance once in a full season. It isn't just the numbers, though. There have always been great shooters. It's the degree of difficulty and the distance that makes Curry truly transformative. His effective range really extends to 35-plus feet, and he is willing to shoot in almost any circumstance. If you were him, you would be, too. 

It's tricky to figure out whether or not a great pure scorer — and prime Durant has a case as the most unstoppable offensive force in the league this century — also qualifies as a great pure shooter. Ultimately, Durant more than fits the bill. He's shot just a tick under 40 percent from long range for his career, just under 90 percent from the line, and has a ridiculous repertoire of mid-range moves. Add in the fact that he's functionally a 7-footer despite playing and moving like a guard, and well, you get the idea. One of the most unique offensive players the league has ever seen, and definitely one of its greatest shooters.

Lots of the players mentioned here are larger-than-life figures, known not just for their shooting, but for their stylistic appeal, or their trash-talking (looking at you, Larry Bird). Ellis was just a lethal long-range marksman. Ellis made just one All-Star team, but had he played in an era where the three-pointer was more emphasized, he likely would have scored a lot more points and been one of the league's best scorers. Ellis shot 40.3 percent from deep in his career, including a league-leading 46.4 percent in 1997-98, at 37 years old. 

Had to have at least one inclusion that made people go, "Huh?" If you're relatively new to the NBA, or just didn't watch the league in the 1980s, you probably don't know about English. That's a shame, because he was one of the most prolific scorers of the decade, a man who led the league in points per game in the 1982-83 season, and someone who shot just under 51 percent from the floor in his career, despite making just 18 threes in 15 seasons. English was a smooth midrange player; he was also hardly flashy. But when he shot the ball, it tended to go in. He was the biggest threat on some very high-scoring Nuggets teams in the 1980s, and while his name might not resonate with you, it certainly did with his opponents.

"Chris, all of these three-point bombers are fun, but isn't there more to great shooting than launching from 25 feet?" Why yes, yes there is. Hamilton was the master of the midrange, an absolutely lethal force curling off screens, and one of the league's absolute savants from 15-18 feet. He actually led the league in three-point percentage in 2005-06, but Hamilton was known for torturing opposing defenders in a way that made purists smile. Sit back and enjoy this montage of him doing what he did best. 

Rare is the player who can do the following: Shoot 40 percent from long range, nearly 90 percent from the line, *and* deliver devastating work in the mid-range game. Houston was very much that guy, particularly during his time with the New York Knicks. He was a gifted long-range shooter, but could also create his own offense, particularly when pulling up off the dribble, and was terrific coming off of screens. The late-1990s weren't exactly an aesthetic picnic, and the Knicks were a big reason why, but when Houston got cooking on offense, it was definitely a sight to behold. 

More than anything, the NBA is comprised of role players. If your role is "knock down threes with unerring accuracy," and you're elite at it, then you by definition are one of the best shooters who has ever lived. Kerr's inclusion might be controversial, but the man made almost half the threes he attempted as a professional — 45.4 percent, to be exact. He shot better than 50 percent from distance in four separate seasons. Who cares if he never averaged double figures? Who cares if he didn't even score 6,000 career points? His job was to splash open looks from distance, and guess what? No one has ever done it better. That's right. Kerr's 45.4 percent mark is the best in league history from long range. 

Korver led the league in three-point percentage four times, and shot 43 percent from deep over the course of his 17-year career. He also was one of the best long-range marksmen of a new era in the NBA, when the league emphasized offense after the ugly, black-and-blue basketball of the late-1990s and early-2000s. Korver was a true three-point specialist, averaging two made threes per game for his career, nearly twice his per-game average of made two-pointers. He currently ranks seventh all-time in three-pointers, with another member of this elite group of shooters having just passed him. Read on, and find out who that is.

I will admit to debating Lillard's worthiness for this distinction for, I don't know, at least several minutes. That's not a slight on him, either. He's one of the best overall players mentioned here, and no one disputes his greatness. In terms of percentages, though, he falls a bit short; he's a career 37.1 percent three-point shooter, though he is exceptional from the charity stripe, shooting 90 percent for his career. The reason Lillard merits inclusion is because he, like Stephen Curry, specializes in ridiculous long-range shot making. Lillard's elite athleticism also allows him to make more off-platform threes than other great shooters. Add it all up, and you have one of the best shooters ever.

Maravich was another player who plied his trade almost entirely outside of the three-point era. That makes putting into context his shooting prowess a bit more difficult. However, he was one of the best ever, in addition to being the consummate showman on the court. His college stats at LSU might do the best job of telling what kind of a shooter he was; Maravich is the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, despite playing just three seasons, and in an era with no three-point line and no shot clock. He totaled 3,667 points and was lethal from everywhere on the court, something that defined his NBA career as well. Maravich would shoot from deep, use the glass, and exploit angles in a manner that seemed impossible. It's frightening to think about what a three-point line would have done to his totals.

Miller twice led the NBA in made threes, and five times was its champion in free-throw percentage, but in some ways, he feels like the player who really popularized the three as a major weapon. Miller still ranks fifth all-time in threes, and converted them at well over 40 percent during his best seasons. He also was lethal in the clutch, and had a serious flair for the dramatic. Plus, if your shooting prowess can make you frenemies with Spike Lee, it's pretty legit. Miller walked so Steph Curry and hundreds of others could run. 

The two-time MVP was one of the league's most dangerous shooters for the entirety of his career, even though he never really functioned as an elite scorer. Nash was a two-time free-throw percentage champion, shot 90.4 percent from the line for his career, and also made 42.8 percent of his threes, though he never led the league in any single season. Nash was particularly dangerous shooting off the fast break when he was with Phoenix, as you never knew when he would step into one, even if the Suns had numbers. Nash gave opposing defenses fits, and his shooting prowess was a major reason why. 

It's hard to have a great shot if that shot is getting blocked, but Nowitzki might have had the most unblockable arsenal in league history. Nowitzki's percentages were very good — 38 from three, 88 from the foul line — but what makes him so special is the fact that he did this all as a true 7-footer. He shot off one foot, two feet, while fast-breaking, in half-court sets, with defenders draped all over him; you name the situation, he could get a shot off, and usually make it. His fadeaway game was truly unstoppable. The 2011 Finals MVP was also a Maverick for all 21 of his seasons, and beat the LeBron-Wade-Bosh Heat on the way to his only title, adding all the more shine to his legacy.

Despite playing in an era where the three-pointer wasn't as big of a weapon, Price carved out a reputation as one of the league's most fearsome threats from deep. Price shot a blistering 48.6 percent from behind the arc in his second year in the league, and ended up at 40.2 percent for his career. He was also a career 90.4 percent shooter from the line, and led the league three times in that department. Price also shot a ridiculous 94.4 percent from the foul line in the playoffs, and, in addition to all of this, was an explosive overall scorer before an ACL tear early in his pro career ended up changing his style. 

Raise your hand if you hated Redick while he was at Duke. (I am assuming all non-Duke fans have their hands raised.) Now raise your other hand if you came to have a grudging respect for Redick after watching him in the NBA. A guy some people thought wasn't big enough, athletically explosive enough or good enough on defense to stick in the league ended up playing 15 years and scoring over 12,000 points. Of course, his pure shooting ability was why he stuck, as he was a career 41.5 percent marksman from deep, and an 89 percent shooter from the line. Redick also developed a nice off-the-dribble arsenal in the league, and was able to get baskets from anywhere on the court. 

It's sort of difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to great shooters in the modern NBA. So many players are hoisting shots from deep — and doing so effectively — that it's hard to differentiate. When Rice was playing, he was a member of a more exclusive club of true marksmen, long-range snipers who struck fear into opposing teams. Rice was a 40 percent three-point shooter who did very good work for the Heat, Hornets and even the Lakers, and his combination of size and all-around game made him a tough cover regardless of where he was on the court. His form was fun to watch, too. It was textbook, but the ball came off high and soft, even when compared to other shooters. 

An admission: This one is sort of a personal favorite, as I, like probably many sports-crazed 10-12 year-olds, was a big Orlando Magic fan in the mid-1990s. Scott, the fourth-overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft, was a lethal outside shooter for those teams, hitting threes at a 40.3 percent clip during his time in Orlando. His career only spanned 10 seasons, but during that time Scott was one of the league's premier three-point shooters. Had he come into the NBA about 20 years later, he might have averaged 25 or so points per game, given the league's dramatically increased emphasis on long-range shooting. 

Here's another name I'm willing to bet many of you, particularly the younger crowd, haven't even heard of. If you have, it's likely because you saw her name on a graphic while Caitlin Clark chased down the NCAA scoring record. A 5'8" guard for Missouri State, Stiles was an absolute terror from the moment she set foot on campus. She averaged 26.3 points per game for her career, fifth all-time in women's college basketball, led the NCAA in points per game in her junior and senior years, and did all this while shooting 44 percent from three, 85 percent from the line, and 53 percent from the floor. She shot 50 percent or better from the floor all four years of college (technically 49.9 percent her junior year) and held the career scoring record from 2001 until 2017. 

If Dirk Nowitzki really opened the door for European sharpshooters to make an impact in the NBA, Stojakovic happily walked through it. He was actually drafted two years prior to Nowitzki, but didn't play in the league until the 1998-99 season. It didn't take long for Stojakovic to establish himself as a lethal shooting force. Stojakovic was a big small forward — a legitimate 6'10", in fact — and his shooting prowess made him an exceptionally tough cover. He was a career 40 percent three-point shooter, and nearly a 90 percent marksman from the line. Stojakovic's prime as a big-time scorer was somewhat brief, but there's no question he is one of the best pure shooters of the last 25 years.

How does a guy who has never been the best shooter on his own team get recognized as one of the greatest pure shooters to grace the court? When that guy's teammate is the unquestioned best ever in that department. The other half of the Splash Brothers is deadly in his own right, a career 41.3 percent three-point shooter, and a career 85.7 percent shooter from the line. Thompson also has some insane individual performances, none greater than when he set an NBA record with 37 points in the third quarter of a 126-101 win over Sacramento on January 23, 2015, going a perfect 13-for-13 from the field in the process, including 9-for-9 from distance. 

"The Logo" played in the pre-three-point era, and so we'll never know just how gaudy his numbers would have been had he plied his trade in present day, but we do know this: The man could absolutely fill it up, and was one of the great pure scoring guards of his, or any era. He shot over 80 percent from the free-throw line for his career, and while he could get baskets any which way, his outside shooting was a big part of his game. West averaged over 30 points per game in four of his 14 seasons, and finished his career averaging 27 points per game.