The NBA's Triple Threats

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Mar 11, 2008

The NBA's Triple Threats

Peja Stojakovic

After an injury-shortened 2006-07 season, the two-time Three-Point Shootout winner is back among the league leaders in three-pointers and percentage. He is one of three active players ranked in the top 10 all time in three-pointers, joining Ray Allen and Antoine Walker.

Jason Richardson

Richardson shattered the Bobcats' franchise record for three-pointers (115) in the 41st game of the season. Through March 9, he led the NBA in three-pointers (182) and was shooting a career-high 41.3 percent from downtown.

Rashard Lewis

Lewis is challenging Jason Richardson for the NBA lead in three-pointers. He's the biggest long-ball threat in a Magic attack that has made at least five threes in every game this season.

Daniel Gibson

The 22-year-old guard seems to enjoy the national stage. He broke out with several big three-pointers as a rookie during the playoffs last season, and then -- in an admittedly more casual setting -- he made 11 treys in his MVP performance in the 2008 Rookie Challenge during All-Star weekend. Before being sidelined with a sprained ankle in late February, Gibson was shooting 47.6 percent from three-point range for the season.

Ray Allen

The eight-time All-Star is one of only two players, along with Reggie Miller, with at least 2,000 career three-pointers. At his current pace, the 32-year-old Allen would break Miller's record of 2,560 sometime during the 2010-11 season.

Steve Nash

The two-time MVP has improved his three-point percentage each of the last four full seasons, and he's on track in 2007-08 to surpass last season's career high of 45.5 percent. He's sixth all time in three-point accuracy at nearly 43 percent.

Mike Miller

Miller's reputation as an outside shooter is such that Team USA included him on the roster for last summer's FIBA Americas tournament. In January, Miller became the 43rd player to make 1,000 career three-pointers.

J.R. Smith

Erratic play often has landed him in coach George Karl's doghouse, but the streaky shooter can be devastating when he's in rhythm. Smith had two eight-trey games in February, one coming in a 43-point outing off the bench against Chicago. The fourth-year guard isn't bashful about hoisting, as three-pointers account for more than half his shot attempts this season.

Jason Kapono

Kapono owes his free-agent payday with the Raptors (four years, $24 million) in large part to his long-range shooting. The back-to-back Three-Point Shootout champion is hovering around 50 percent from beyond the arc this season, and he's the NBA's all-time leader in three-point percentage (better than 46 percent) among players with at least 250 threes.

Damon Jones

The self-proclaimed "best shooter in the world" is a true specialist: Almost 65 percent of his career field goal attempts are three-pointers. His ability to convert about 40 percent from beyond the arc has helped Jones carve out an NBA career in which he's played for 10 teams in 10 seasons.

Brent Barry

A consistent long-distance threat, Barry has shot at least 40 percent from three-point range eight times in 13 seasons. He led the league in that category in 2000-01 (47.6 percent).

Michael Redd

Redd holds the single-game record for most three-pointers in a quarter, drilling eight in the fourth period against Houston on Feb. 20, 2002. The 6-foot-6 left-hander with the quick release is a much better deep shooter than he was in college. After shooting only 31.9 percent from the shorter three-point line in three years at Ohio State, Redd has raised that figure to nearly 39 percent over eight NBA seasons.

Kyle Korver

The Jazz's formidable offense has been even more potent since Korver was acquired from Philadelphia in late December. Korver owns the 76ers franchise record for three-pointers in a season (226 in 2004-05), and he holds three of the club's top-10 single-season marks for three-point accuracy.

Dirk Nowitzki

Nowitzki shot a career-high 41.6 percent from long distance during his MVP 2006-07 season, but he's slumped to below 35 percent this season. In 2006, the 7-footer became the tallest player to win the Three-Point Shootout.

Robert Horry

Horry isn't on this list because he hits a ton of three-pointers or shoots them at a high percentage. For Horry, it's all about <i>when</i> he makes them. Big Shot Rob, a seven-time NBA champion, has a well-earned reputation for delivering when the stakes are the highest.