Basketball

Who has made the most three pointers for every NBA team?


We have watched the three-point shot come to dominate basketball in recent years. Records are falling left and right. Guys are pulling up from the logo and swishing treys. People who like to erroneously claim jump-shooting teams can’t win titles are increasingly grasping at straws. Larry Bird, one of the best shooters ever, took 1.9 threes per game over his career. A whopping 197 players beat that last season. Three-point records have primarily been set over the last five seasons. With that in mind, here are the players who have made the most threes for every NBA team.

 

Atlanta Hawks: Mookie Blaylock

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We start with a name that is not necessarily the first you think of when you think of sharpshooters (unless you are a member of Pearl Jam, we suppose). Blaylock is more known for his defensive prowess, as he made six All-Defense teams in his career. In his seven seasons with the Hawks he averaged two made treys per game, racking up 1,050 threes before moving on to Golden State.

 

Brooklyn Nets: Jason Kidd

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Remember when they joked that he should be named “Ason” Kidd because he had no jay? Kidd is a player who really turned around his reputation as a shooter. In addition to his excellent passing, the man who ranks 10th in career threes tops the Nets by making 835 shots from beyond the arc in his time there.

 

Boston Celtics: Paul Pierce

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Right above Kidd on the all-time three pointers list? That would be Pierce. He didn’t move around as much as Kidd did in his career, so Pierce’s total on the Celtics is considerably higher than Kidd’s total with any singular team. Pierce also dwarfs Bird’s career totals, but again that’s about era. Pierce made 36.8 percent of his threes. Bird made 37.6 In the end, though, Pierce made 1,823 threes in Celtics green.

 

Charlotte Hornets: Kemba Walker

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We go from a former Celtic to a current Celtic. Before leaving Charlotte for Boston, Walker was the best player in the history of the Charlotte franchise since they returned to the NBA as the Bobcats. As a one-man offense a lot of the time, Walker notched 1,283 three-point makes from his rookie campaign through his final year in Charlotte. He’ll add plenty more made treys in Boston.

 

Chicago Bulls: Kirk Hinrich

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Many famed players have donned a Bulls jersey, including one Michael Jordan. Of course, Jordan is known for his dunks, not his outside shot. That’s how a solid but unspectacular player like Hinrich can lead a franchise with six NBA titles in three-point makes. Hinrich may have averaged 10.9 points per game in his career, but he did make 1,049 threes in Chicago.

 

Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James

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James is not thought of as a three-point shooter, and that’s with good reason. He’s made 34.4 percent of his threes in his career, which is far from a sharpshooter’s numbers, especially today. Of course, as a Cavalier LeBron was the dominating force of the offense in both his Cleveland stints. James took plenty of threes, and some of them went in. Specifically, 1,251 of them went in. Only one player in the top 20 in career made threes has a lower career conversion percentage, and we’ll get to him with the Lakers. Oh, by the way, LeBron is incredible at like 50 different basketball things, so he’s still doing just fine.

 

Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki

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Dirk was at the forefront of a new era in the NBA. He was the first seven footer who built his game around his outside shot. To use the modern parlance, he was the original NBA unicorn. The greatest Maverick of all-time never played a minute for another franchise, and in addition to his MVP and his ring, he has 1,982 three pointers to his name.

 

Denver Nuggets: J.R. Smith

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Sure, Smith does some puzzling things. Maybe the lasting image of him is that time out he called in the NBA Finals. Or maybe it’s him not wearing a shirt. The fact is Smith is an all-time great three-point shooter. He’s 13th in career makes and has converted 37.1 percent of his treys. That’s been over several teams, but he still leads the Nuggets with 768 threes.

 

Detroit Pistons: Joe Dumars

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As you have noticed, this is a very modern list of players. Most of them played the bulk of their career in the 2000s, a time with way more three-point shooting. That makes Dumars stand out here. Dumars began his career in 1985 and retired in 1999. The Hall of Famer only averaged 2.5 three-point attempts in his career. And yet he made 990 threes in his career, tops of any Piston.

 

Golden State Warriors: Steph Curry

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There are evolutionary shooters, and then there is Curry. He truly helped usher in the three-point revolution, and with good cause. The dude can hit a shot from anywhere. He’s honestly probably the greatest shooter in NBA history. Three-point records have fallen left and right at Curry’s feet. He’s won multiple MVPs on the strength of his three-point shot. Curry has made 2,495 threes since being drafted by the Warriors. He’s already third in career made threes. In a couple of years he will be topping the list, and Curry seems bound to become the first-ever player with over 3,000 made threes.

 

Houston Rockets: James Harden

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Curry will be the first player to hit 3,000 treys. Harden will be the second. He’s fifth in made threes at 2,324, and 2,004 of them have come with the Rockets. While the Beard has taken more threes than Curry – he’s a bit more of a volume scorer even if he scores in unprecedented volumes – you can’t argue with his shooting. Harden plays basketball like nobody before him.

 

Indiana Pacers: Reggie Miller

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For at least a little while longer, nobody has made more threes with one team than Miller. By the way, Curry, Harden, and Miller are the three players with over 2,000 treys with one team. Miller was a little before the three-point revolution, but that just makes him an incredible outlier. Reggie is second in career made threes with 2,560, and he made 39.5 percent of them. That’s not unheard of these days, but in the ‘90s that made him truly special.

 

Los Angeles Clippers: Eric Piatkowski

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We bet you didn’t expect to see Piatkowski’s name on a list like this. To be fair, he only made 738 threes with the Clippers. The franchise just has far from a storied history. Maybe someday Paul George or a player like that will best Piatkowski’s franchise record. That would make more sense than the record belonging to a guy who averaged 7.5 points in his career and never made a single All-NBA team of any kind.

 

Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant

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It probably won’t surprise you to find out that Bryant has the worst career three-point percentage of any player in the top 20 in career made threes. In fact, his .330 career number is worst in the top 40. Was Kobe a bit of a gunner, dare we say at his worst a chucker? Sure, but he’s also an all-time elite offensive player and one of the top players of his generation. The same reason he only made 33 percent of his threes is the reason he once dropped 81 points in a game. Bryant also made 1,827 threes in his Lakers career.

 

Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley

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Many consider Conley the best-ever player to never make an All-Star team, and we can see that. He’s been an above-average point guard for over a decade, and is one of the faces of the Grizzlies franchise. Of course, he’s now with the Jazz, but his 11 seasons in Memphis have left him with a legacy. That legacy includes making 1,086 threes, more than any other Grizzly.

 

Miami Heat: Tim Hardaway

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Hardaway is known for his killer crossover, but he was also a pretty good three-point shooter. His best shooting days came in Miami, where he made 2.2 threes per game over six seasons. That was enough for him to make 806 career threes. By the way, his son Tim Hardaway Jr. is making two treys per game through his career so far. Like father, like son.

 

Milwaukee Bucks: Ray Allen

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Allen has made the most three-point shots in NBA history with 2,973. That’s 400 more than anybody else (though Curry will be cutting into that soon enough). However, Allen also played for four teams in his career. Leaving Milwaukee, and later Seattle, helped him win rings in Boston and Miami. However, his time as a Buck was the most fruitful of his career in teams making threes. The notoriously routine-oriented shooter made 1,051 threes with his first squad.

 

Minnesota Timberwolves: Andrew Wiggins

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Some call Wiggins a bust. We call him the most-prolific three-point shooter in Minnesota history. Not that it is a terribly storied history. Wigging only made 520 threes in his time with the Timberwolves. Minnesota has the lowest franchise record of any of these teams.

 

New Orleans Pelicans: Jrue Holiday

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Funnily enough, the Pelicans have the second-lowest franchise record, though they have been around less time as a franchise (the Charlotte Hornets got their franchise history back when New Orleans became the Pelicans and the Bobcats became the Hornets again). Holiday is a strong defensive player, but he’s actually only made 1.3 threes per game in his career. He just happened to spend seven seasons in the Big Easy to rack up 628 threes.

 

New York Knicks: John Starks

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Starks is both a cult hero and something of a goat in New York. Famously, he went 2-for-18 in Game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals against the Rockets (and 0-for-11 from three). Of course, in his career Starks made plenty of his shots from beyond the arc. Specifically, he made 982 threes as a Knick, better than anybody else.

 

Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Durant

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Durant is one of the best offensive players in the NBA, and he was one of the first faces of the Thunder. Of course, he would eventually leave and win titles with the Warriors, and he hopes to do the same with the Nets. Before all that, the MVP-winning sharpshooter made 1,143 three pointers in OKC. Durant will likely end up being an all-time three-point shooter. Will he maybe end up beating Kidd’s record with the Nets?

 

Orlando Magic: Dennis Scott

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Scott is another old-school name, but man the guy could shoot. In his career, which ran from 1990 through 2000, the guy they fittingly call “3-D” made 39.7 percent of his treys. He was a fine secondary option in the early days of the Magic alongside guys like Shaq and Penny, making 981 three pointers before moving on.

 

Philadelphia 76ers: Allen Iverson

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Is Iverson really remembered for his shooting? To us, we always see him dribbling circles around guys and attacking the bucket. However, AI definitely always had the ball in his hand, so he definitely had plenty of chances to shoot threes. Now, “The Answer” was not a good three-point shooter by any stretch of the animation. He took four per game in Philly and made 30.9 percent of them. That’s bad. It didn’t stop him from making 885 threes for the Sixers. Or being a four-time scoring champ.

 

Phoenix Suns: Steve Nash

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Before Curry came around, many considered Nash the best shooter ever. He made 42.8 percent of his threes in his career, after all. However, Nash was wired differently. The two-time MVP was a pass-first point guard that came around before the idea of point guards raining threes was a thing. Nash still made 1,051 threes with the Suns. It could have been even more.

 

Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard

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If the NBA had a four-point shot, Lillard would be one of the all-time best at that too. It seems inevitable that Dame is going to keep climbing up the career rankings, and he already is the top three-point shooter in Blazers history. Lillard has made 1,776 threes in his career and he has taken 7.7 per game on average. He’s only 30 at this point. There are a lot of years left for Lillard to nail shots from the logo.

 

San Antonio Spurs: Manu Ginobili

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The top two Spurs legends are both big men in David Robinson and Tim Duncan. They didn’t shoot threes. Manu, though, did a bit of everything. Arguably still underrated somehow, Ginobili was a better shooter than any of us may have realized. After all, the Argentine made 1,493 three points in his San Antonio career.

 

Sacramento Kings: Peja Stojakovic

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Peja was an elite shooter, twice leading the league in free-throw percentage. He never led the league in made threes, or three-point percentage, but he did just fine from there. Stojakovic actually shot more threes per game after leaving the Kings, but he made 1,070 treys in Sacramento. That helped him make three consecutive All-Star Games.

 

Toronto Raptors: Kyle Lowry

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Lowry is the number-one icon in Raptors history. Sorry, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh. Those guys were better players, but they both split acrimoniously. Lowry is an easy player to love, and he was around for the Raptors’ first NBA title. Lowry plays strong defense and passes the ball well. He’s also made 1,387 three pointers as a Raptor, even though it took him a few years into his NBA career to land there.

 

Utah Jazz: John Stockton

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Stockton has more assists than any player in NBA history. He’s tops in steals as well. This is a funny one, because Stockton only took 1.5 threes per game. He made 0.6 of them. Yes, Stockton averaged under one made three-pointer per game in his career. He also played 1,504 games with the Jazz. That’s why his 845 threes lead the franchise.

 

Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal

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A couple years as the go-to guy for the Wizards with John Wall out with injury may have helped Beal pad his stats a bit. Not that he isn’t a talented player. Beal could easily be the top offensive option for many teams in the NBA. The last four seasons Beal has taken 7.2 threes per game and made 2.7 of them. He’s also only 27 years old. Despite his age, he’s already made 1,241 threes in his career. Are we overlooking Beal as a future all-time three-point shooter?





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