KAT Calls Himself Best Big Man Shooter Ever... But What About Dirk?
Every sport has debates about the greatest of all-time, whether it's as an overall player, or at a specific part of the game.
Stephen Curry managed to blow Ray Allen's all-time three-point shooting record out of the water recently. Most people would call Curry the greatest shooter of all-time without much room to debate other choices.
Given Curry is a guard, who is the best shooting big man of all-time? Towns recently called himself the 'greatest big man shooter of all time' when talking to Jon Krawcyznski of The Athletic.
“I’m the greatest big man shooter of all time. That’s a fact. You can see the stats. I ain’t got to play like no one else. Everyone trying to find themselves to be the second version of me when I’m the first version. I don’t got to be the second version of someone else. I’m already an original. I don’t have to be a duplicate of someone else.”
While there's no denying that Towns, who is shooting 42 percent from the perimeter this season, is a lethal shooter from beyond the arc and just in general, is he better than Dirk Nowitzki?
Towns is shooting 39.7 percent from deep on four attempts per game for his career. Meanwhile, Nowitzki converted at a 38 percent clip on 3.4 attempts per game.
There's far more to consider though. Nowitzki didn't play in an era where spraying home a ton of three-pointers was as much of a focused strategy. However, he was more than capable of converting at a high clip in addition to being the NBA's best mid-range shooter throughout his time in the league.
As Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey pointed out last year when taking on the debate of the NBA's best big-man shooter ever, he ranked Nowitzki in the top spot — citing his great mid-range efficiency as a key reason.
"Beyond the threes, Dirk was also one of the game's best mid-range shooters for two decades. He was the league leader in two-pointers from 10 feet and out in nine different seasons, and he shot 47.2 percent on those attempts over the course of his career. For context's sake, DeMar DeRozan is working on a single-season career-high percentage from that range of 43.9."
Keep in mind, Nowitzki was highly efficient as a post-up threat taking turnaround jumpers and one-legged fadeaways in addition to being a highly efficient spot-up and pick-and-pop threat. There was genuine artistry to his shot creation from inside the three-point line that needs to be accounted for when looking at numbers.
It's difficult to project what Nowitzki could have accomplished had his career took place completely in the modern era.
Towns could go down as the greatest three-point shooting big man by the time his career is done, but it's tough to discount Nowitzki's impact as an overall shooter when discussing best all-around big-man shooters in history.
