Stephen Curry added another major milestone to his Hall of Fame career on Thursday, March 12, when he connected on his 4,000th career three-pointer in his Golden State Warriors’ 130-104 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Curry, who turns 37 on Friday, is the first player in NBA history to reach the milestone.
“It’s a clear milestone threshold,” Curry told ESPN before he hit the 4,000 made threes plateau. “A number that I didn’t think about, that it was realistic even from 2,974, which is a number that means the most because that was the record at the time.
Curry became the NBA’s all-time leader in made threes in 2021 when he surpassed Ray Allen’s career mark of 2,973. James Harden of the Los Angeles Clippers has since passed Allen’s total as well.
“It’s beyond my wildest dreams to push a record that far,” Curry added.
The sharpshooter from Davidson College entered Thursday’s game at 3,998, making it a near certainty that he would eclipse 4,000 in front of his home crowd.
“It was a weird night because we all knew I was two away,” Curry said after the game. “Made the first one in the first quarter off a transition, [Jonathan Kuminga] made a great pass. Sacramento was playing that gimmicky defense all game where they were literally face-guarding me, top-locking, and nothing was clean about it.”
This is Curry’s 16th season in the NBA and over the course of his career, he has almost single-handedly changed the way the game is played in the United States with players focusing more on the three-point shot rather than the more traditional mid-range or post game.
“To me, it was more a psychological shift with Steph, which then translated to the rest of the league,” his coach, Steve Kerr, said after the game. “It was like, oh wait a second, we can actually play this way instead of getting set up and making sure every shot was a good shot — the way I was raised.”
“I don’t know how many more I got after that,” Curry told ESPN last week. “Keep pushing it to as far as I can. I think it’s one of those things that just puts into perspective just how the game has changed and I’ve been able to be a part of that.”
Six of the top 10 three-point shooters in NBA history are still active today, including the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James. James took to X to congratulate his Western Conference rival.
“4K from Trey is CRAZY!!!!! Congrats my brother!! That’s 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 @StephenCurry30,” he wrote.
