Steph Curry is widely recognized as the best shooter that the NBA has ever seen. He has over 3,600 hundred three-pointers and counting. He’s well on his way to hitting the 4,000 made three-pointers mark within the next few years. Curry changed the game, but it would not have been possible without the legends before him.
Of course, we think of guys like Ray Allen or Reggie Miller instantly, but you got to go back a little further to think of Craig Hodges.
Hodges won the three-point shooting contest three different times
He won all three of them in a row from 1990 to 1992. He and Larry Bird are tied for the most Three-Point Contest wins. In the land of excellent three-point shooting, Hodges might be a forgotten name. However, when asked who he thinks the best shooter ever is, he gave a confident response.
“Craig Hodges,” he said with a laugh. “I look at like it’s cyclical. You look at players from back in the day, you had great shooters from back in the day. Pete Maravich, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones. You can pick choose. Steph and Dame are off the chain. It’s a different game. If you can dribble and shoot, you can play. The development of the game on that level is totally different.”
The game is a lot faster than what it was when Hodges was active. Spacing and pace are way different compared to what it used to look like back in the 80s and 90s. Offenses are also different and maybe more creative than what they were way back when.
Hodges’ thoughts on Steph Curry Vs. Sabrina Ionescu
History was made in the 2024 All-Star weekend when Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu faced off in a three-point contest. Curry took home victory in the first matchup between the NBA and WNBA.
Before the game though, Hodges gave his thoughts on the leagues converging together for a basketball competition rather than one dictated by gender.
“That’s gonna be interesting to see. It’s the development and growth of the league and seeing how you can grow your product. Whether it be jointly or independently,” Hodges said. “They’ve been able to do it on both levels where the WNBA stands alone now, but at the same time it’s connected to the foundation of the NBA. Both can go out perform out in front of everybody wide world.”
Hodges did happen to predict the winner correctly, since Curry did win the first WNBA/NBA mashup. He highlighted one important fact about Curry potentially losing.
“That’s the cool part about shooting and in competitions is that there’s always a chance you won’t be number one.”
The game is expanding in a way that many might’ve believed wasn’t possible. Hodges played over 20 years ago and he can accept that.
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