Ray Allen Sounds Off on the "Greatest Shooter" Debate

Sometimes, old heads just can’t let things go. Last night, NBA great Ray Allen went on the Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports radio to make his thoughts known on the current debate surrounding Stephen Curry being the greatest shooter of all time. Allen, as he did mid-season last year when he called Reggie Miller greater than Steph, had a lot to say on the matter:

“That’s certainly subjective, depending on who you’re talking to” Allen told Patrick when he was prompted on whether or not he’s still the greatest shooter of all time. “Kids today, they see what they see based on social media and they can’t imagine someone being better than the current players that are playing today.”

Before we put Allen’s comments on blast, it’s important to acknowledge the context of what and why he’s saying this. The former Celtic makes a good point: The G.O.A.T. debate around really anything is subjective. There is no objective statistic for greatness, or even a proper definition in sports no matter how hard we try to make one.

Ray Allen has certainly had some all-time moments, including a legacy-saving shot in the Finals against the Spurs which helped LeBron James win his second ring. There is no question how great of a shooter Allen actually is, and if there aren’t statistics to quantify it, then sure, someone could make a rogue argument that he still holds the crown.

Of course, when you realize it’s Steph he’s competing against, there really is no question.

Stephen Curry, as KRON 4 sports anchor Kylen Mills pointed out, is 10 made threes away from breaking Allen’s regular-season record in a little over half the games. Assuming all goes well, Curry will have broken the record in under 790 games. It took Allen almost 1300 to set it. Allen himself even said that Steph’s versatility sets him apart from the competition, as he’s gotten his threes in a huge variety of ways.

Ray Allen was never a pull-up, off-the-dribble shooter. He was a set shooter who took his shots from the corner and other efficient spots, relying on set-ups from his teammates and the system to get him his looks. Allen, of course, wasn’t just a shooter early in his career, and he’s still an excellent set shooter, but he doesn’t do it like Steph Curry could.

The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II recently wrote an article that tracked every single one of Steph’s career threes. Of his made triples since the article was written, Steph shot 1247 off the dribble, and 1717 off the catch. This split is unique, mostly because nobody took off-the-dribble threes before he started doing it.

There should be a lot of respect given to Ray Allen for his take on debating who the Greatest of All Time players are in their respective categories. But at this point, when it comes to shooting, there really isn’t a comparison that you can make. When you are a more versatile, higher-percentage, and higher-volume shooter with a myriad of spots for your name in the record books, you are a better shooter.

And there really is no debate or subjectivity when it comes to the fact that Stephen Curry is the best to ever do it.

(Photo credit: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)