As Steph Curry inches closer and closer towards Ray Allen’s all-time three-point record, Allen is offering some interesting thoughts on The Chef.
The retired Basketball Hall of Famer Allen spoke this week with Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area and reacted to the comparisons that have been drawn between himself and Curry.
“People have compared him to myself and to Reggie [Miller] and to other past shooters, great shooters, in the NBA,” Allen said. “But he really – and I’ve said this before – he really operates somewhat in a lane of his own.
“I love Steph because he’s a great dude,” added Allen. “He’s a good person. He’s a great family man. I always say that when you watch any sport, you celebrate and cheer for those you know are good people and you want to see succeed and win. It’s hard not to root for Steph. It’s hard not to understand where he comes from and who he is. To be able to see him and celebrate him, it’s not a stretch at all. I’m just happy for him and his family. I’ve known them for forever.”
The 46-year-old Allen also described how he got to know the Curry family when he played with Dell Curry on the Milwaukee Bucks in 1998-99.
“Steph used to come into Milwaukee when he was younger, him and Seth,” he said. “And [then-Bucks coach] George Karl used to let them participate in shootaround. So, they’d come and we’d go through drills and they’d be right there with us. And they’d hold their own.”
Allen is currently the all-time three-point king with 2,973 career triples. But Curry is knocking right on the door with 2,940 career threes and will almost assuredly surpass Allen this season. While players like Allen and Miller are seen as the gold standard for shooters in the NBA, Curry has indeed added another dimension to the three-point line by having acrobatic off-the-move triples as a big part of his nuclear arsenal as well.
The former MVP Curry recently won over a prominent old-schooler who had been hating on him in that past. It only makes sense that he would also win over someone who has probably been rooting for him all along in Allen.
More must-reads: