Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden’s place in NBA history is set in stone. The former 2018 NBA MVP is headed straight to the Hall-of-Fame when he retires. Harden has been one of the most prolific scorers of this era. With that has come his unprecedented marksmanship from the three-point line. Albeit, after moving to No. 2 on the all-time career three-pointers made list in Los Angeles’ 116-105 win over the Utah Jazz on Sunday, the 10-time All-Star admitted that overtaking Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry for the No. 1 overall spot won’t be in the cards for him.
Clippers’ James Harden doesn’t think he’ll pass Warriors’ Stephen Curry in career 3PM
Sports Illustrated’s Joey Linn shared Harden’s comments from his post game press conference after their victory over the Jazz. The six-time All-NBA First Team honoree said this about the likelihood of him catching Curry before he retires:
“I’m one of the most confident guys that we have in this league. But no. I probably won’t catch Steph. I don’t think anybody will… He can shoot the s**t outta the ball,” Harden admitted.
Per Linn, Curry also spoke on the achievement after his Warriors loss to Harden’s Clippers 102-99 on Monday night:
“It’s special for sure… He’s had an unbelievable run. We’ve had a lot of battles. The fact that he’s now second on the list in front of two greats we both respect, it’s pretty special. We’ll see how far we both can push it. I know we got a lot left in the tank… He was the 3rd pick and I was 7th from the ‘09 class. Pretty special,” Curry raved.
Harden’s accomplishment is riveting despite Warriors’ Curry being far from reach
Seeing that Harden and Curry are contemporaries, it will be a steep uphill battle for the former to catch the latter. Harden currently sits at 2,977 career triples compared to Curry’s 3,788. The Davidson product is shooting 42.7 percent from three-point range while drilling 4.1 threes a night. That’s up from “The Beard’s” 2.5 3PM on 31.1 percent shooting this season.
No matter, Harden’s accomplishment is monumental in and of itself. Once upon a time, Allen’s record of 2,973 career treys was looked at as one that might have never been broken. Curry may be the top dog in that department all-time, but Harden having the edge over the likes of Allen, Hall-of-Famer Reggie Miller and former Warriors star shooting guard Klay Thompson only makes his standing on the all-time list even more impressive.
