Best NBA shooter of all time?

[Zippy Chippy]

We had a discussion tonight out at a bar. We were talking about our generation. I said ray Allen, and the 2 other guys said Bird and Reggie Miller.I want to agree with Larry Bird but think Allen is better.

[Bennie]

Always was a big Celtic fan, and i would argue that Bird was the best. Could hit from anywhere and I mean anywhere and don't know how many remember a game where he hit a 30 foot bank shot, ran past the bench and high fived Danny Ainge with a big smile on his face. They asked him after what that was all about and he said he and Ainge would make $5 bets on certain shots, but you had to "call' your shot. He won $5 from Ainge on the 30 foot bank shot.:ThmbUp:

[Canarsie]

Great question I'm going with Pete Maravich who never really played for a good team. There was no three point rule till late in his career. His stats would have been out of this world if it was in effect when he played.

[lamboguy]

Always was a big Celtic fan, and i would argue that Bird was the best. Could hit from anywhere and I mean anywhere and don't know how many remember a game where he hit a 30 foot bank shot, ran past the bench and high fived Danny Ainge with a big smile on his face. They asked him after what that was all about and he said he and Ainge would make $5 bets on certain shots, but you had to "call' your shot. He won $5 from Ainge on the 30 foot bank shot.:ThmbUp:the best part of larry bird was that johnnie most got to announce him. in boston we have been really blessed with some great sports superstars, the celtics had plenty of them, bird, havlechek, cousy, russell. we had ted williams and bobby orr.

as far as baseball the yankees and dodgers had the top stars of the game for years.

[cj]

Pistol Pete.

[eastie]

Pistol Pete.

if it was best shooter with someone in his face....Maravich would be a lock. wide open....Reggie Miller never missed when he was open

[n3dsports]

I would have to go with Larry Bird. Hit it from the outside, post up down low, create his own shot he could do it all.

[pandy]

Pistol Pete was amazing, not that Bird wasn't. I don't follow the NBA much anymore, who is the best shooter today?

[Canarsie]

Remember one thing when Pistol Pete and Bird played that is very important to consider. Hand checking was allowed back then making it much harder to score compared to this era.

[Grits]

Pistol Pete, my brother has always idolized his career. The greatest to ever play the game. (His cat's named, "Pistol Pete.")

And gone too soon. All those years, playing with an undetected, undiagnosed, congenital heart defect, he died at only 40 years old.:(

[slew101]

Larry Bird and Reggie Miller are obvious choices. Ray Allen is great but not as good as the top two, but mainly because Ray Allen didn't have a lot of playoff games until the last few years so he's not showcased as much in big spots.

You know who was a great shooter nobody mentions? Jeff Hornacek from Phoenix/Utah. Career 87 percent FT shooter, 40 percent from 3 and 49 percent overall.

[PhantomOnTour]

Glen Rice was a heck of a shooter.

[cj's dad]

Earl "the Pearl" Monroe

[PhantomOnTour]

Calvin Murphy?

[Wiley]

Style and form wise, Ray Allen has one of the sweetest shots of all time and pretty clutch too. Miller had the weird right elbow throw out that always looked funky to me and is really poor form but he was definitely clutch and quality and got the job done - his on the move fall away was outstanding. Bird was just all around good but Maravich was Bird before Bird and on lousy teams.

I'll add Downtown Freddie Brown who could fill it up from anywhere and Del Curry had an incredible quick release shot, his son's are pretty solid as well.

I know the question is for NBA but I will throw in for College, Rick Mount from Purdue his senior year was one for the ages and Freeman Williams was just a pure jump shooting scorer.

[chickenhead]

from a pure percentage standpoint, somewhat surprisingly maybe -- Steve Nash, both 3 pointers and free throws prove it out. Not a fair comparison as he's not a scorer in the same sense as most of the others, if he was forced to force as many shots as they do he'd have lower 3 point percentage. It's hard and not necessarily fair to separate "scorer" from "shooter".

on the pistol -- they went back and charted all his college games, he'd have averaged 13 made 3 pointers per game -- rather than 44 points per game, he'd have averaged 57 a game for his college career. Amazing. He was also arguably the best ball handler of all time.

[Valuist]

R-E-G-G-I-E

[pandy]

Earl "the Pearl" Monroe

When Monroe was with Baltimore, his turn around fade away jumper was amazing. There's no defense when the guy has his back to you then leaps in the air, spins around and takes a 25 foot jumper while falling backwards, and hits it over and over. I saw him take over many games with that shot, not to mention his acrobatic layups, which were also amazing.

[Wiley]

Earl "the Pearl" Monroe
Agree on Monroe and from the same era, Jerry West could fill it up and had a pretty nice jay. His 50 footer at the buzzer against the Knicks in the 70 championship was sweet.

[kingfin66]

While I love The Pistol (fav player of all time), I believe the best shooter currently and historically is Steve Nash. The guy has one of the highest 3pt percentages of all time while being among the leaders in all time 3 pt attempts. He also boasts a .490 career shooting percentages, which is quite good considering the amount of 3s he takes (3,600 in his career). His FG% has been over 50% for the the past 7 seasons (counting this year). Pretty amazing. He is my 2nd favorite player of all time.

Other notable marksmen:

Drazen Petrovic (tragic death at just 29yo, but still made HOF)
Stephen Curry (a better shooter than his dad, who was also a great shooter)
Michael Jordan (the greatest scorer ever has to be somewhere on the list)
Jerry West

[traveler]

I was thinking Calvin Murphy - 48% career FG%

[cj]

I realize we all have our biases, but anyone that puts Larry Bird in the top 5 shooters of all time is not being realistic. I was a big fan since I hate the Lakers. He was a fabulous player, and a very good shooter, but not among the best shooters ever.

[JustRalph]

I realize we all have our biases, but anyone that puts Larry Bird in the top 5 shooters of all time is not being realistic. I was a big fan since I hate the Lakers. He was a fabulous player, and a very good shooter, but not among the best shooters ever.

I agree, but when it came to crunch time, did anybody play harder ?

Loved the guy. He reminded me so much of Havlicek and then he took it to another level.

Btw, Havlicek was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in Football (7th round) and number 7 in the NBA draft by Red Auerbach and the Celts.

That's a pretty interesting double there.

Havlicek and Bird have a couple other things in common too.....

rdMPSYtQeIQ

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[fiveouttasix]

Deserving of mention:
Bob Mcadoo & Bernard King

[Pace Cap'n]

Other good shooters...

Rick Barry

Gail Goodrich

Jerry Lucas

But the best shooter I ever saw, besides the Pistol, was a guard who played for Oral Roberts in the early 70's, Rich Fuqua. He would bring the ball up, take one or two steps over midcourt, and put up the prettiest 40 foot jumpers you ever saw. Swish. Didn't have three-pointers then, but his would have been 4's and 5's.

Got drafted by Boston, but never played in the NBA.

[Shemp Howard]

Michael Jordan has the highest shooting % all-time and he averaged 30 points a game.

The debate stops there.

[Shemp Howard]

I also saw Earl make a layup into the other teams basket at the end of a game the Knickerbockers were comfortably ahead at the Garden.

Only problem was that basket made a winner out of the losing team according to the line.

Red Holtzman's face was redder than a beet as the gambler's screamed fix at him walking off the court.

[wes]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2506801/who_is_the_best_basketball_player_of_pg2.html?cat= 14

Wilt Chamberlain would be my pick.

wes

[cj]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2506801/who_is_the_best_basketball_player_of_pg2.html?cat= 14

Wilt Chamberlain would be my pick.

wes

Best player, probably. Best shooter, absolutely not.

[PhantomOnTour]

Wilt as best player?

NO WAY

[Valuist]

Michael Jordan has the highest shooting % all-time and he averaged 30 points a game.

The debate stops there.

When he came into the league he wasn't but he really worked on that turnaround and got it down, just like Kobe does now.

Regarding another early post on Chamberlain, ever watch him shoot a free throw? Brutal. He had a high FG % because so many of his shots were dunks. No big man can possibly be in this discussion.

[Dave Schwartz]

I am not sure who the best shooter was but I can tell you that there was no player I enjoyed watching more than Pistol Pete. And Earl the Pearl was right behind him.

Between that fall away jumper that Earl used against much larger defenders and his delicate "floaters" on the way through the lane, he was something to watch.

Wilt had a high FG pct but really was not too skilled as a shooter. He was asked once why he dunked the ball so often and responded, "Because when you dunk the ball you have a 100% chance of making it."

[JimG]

My vote would be Pete Maravich.

[headhawg]

Of course these types of sports questions are influenced by our bias and therefore impossible to answer "correctly". Here's a list of career FG% by rank. I think it will surprise a lot of people.

Career FG% (http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/fg_pct_career.html)

[cj]

Wilt as best player?

NO WAY

It is before my time, so I don't know. I do know that all stats and records are pretty much pre-Wilt and post-Wilt.

[cj's dad]

I saw Wilt play in person and he was by far the most dominant player of his time.

Best shooter ? Not even in the top 100.

[chickenhead]

Wilt was the most dominant player ever. As always it depends on what someone means by "best". Able to score, rebound, and block shots at will -- that was Wilt. I've always had a hard time giving best player to a big man, only because they are so reliant on others to do things for them (bring the ball up the court, pass them the ball in good position). Within the context of the game, they have an inherent weakness as a player that comes from their position. But it's a position that lends itself to domination within that smaller world.

Great great guards, like Jordan, don't really have any weakness, and aren't anywhere near as reliant on others to impose their greatness on the other team. It's also a more difficult position from which to dominate.

[cj]

Wilt was the most dominant player ever. As always it depends on what someone means by "best". Able to score, rebound, and block shots at will -- that was Wilt. I've always had a hard time giving best player to a big man, only because they are so reliant on others to do things for them (bring the ball up the court, pass them the ball in good position). Within the context of the game, they have an inherent weakness as a player that comes from their position. But it's a position that lends itself to domination within that smaller world.

Great great guards, like Jordan, don't really have any weakness, and aren't anywhere near as reliant on others to impose their greatness on the other team. It's also a more difficult position from which to dominate.

I was amazed when I looked up his stats and saw the number of assists he had. He had a lot of triple doubles. He led the league in assists one year.

[chickenhead]

I was amazed when I looked up his stats and saw the number of assists he had. He had a lot of triple doubles. He led the league in assists one year.

Probably because they had to quadruple team him to have a chance of stopping him from scoring. He was a freak of nature for the time.

[Casino]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2506801/who_is_the_best_basketball_player_of_pg2.html?cat= 14

Wilt Chamberlain would be my pick.

wes

The title of the thread BEST SHOOTER,Wilt was a scorer not a shooter.Im surprised no one has mentioned Chris Mullin.

[Spiderman]

I stopped following NBA more than a decade ago. Here are a few I recall who you would want to take the game winning shot:
Knicks - Bill Bradley
Celtics - Bill Sharman
St. Louis - Bob Petite
Cinci - Oscar Robertson

[pandy]

I'm a Knick fan so I enjoyed watching Bradley, and hot shooting Cassie Russell, and whenever they played The Big O it was fun to watch, he was one of the all time greats.

[sammy the sage]

Vinnie...the Microwave..Johnson?.....off the bench from the D'troit in mid./late 80's...when ON...nobody better...and I MEAN nobody...guarded OR NOT...would put 15 in 7 mins. flat...guarded or not!

[dav4463]

Vinnie Johnson was more of a "scorer" rather than a shooter. Here are a few of what I consider great "shooters" off the top of my head.

Pete Maravich
Craig Hodges
Joe Hassett
Larry Bird
Dirk Nowitski
Mike Glenn
Calvin Murphy
Matt Bonner
Steve Kerr
Paul Westphal
Walter Davis
Freeman Williams
Rick Barry
Ray Allen
Steve Nash
Reggie Miller
Oscar Robertson
'Downtown" Fred Brown
Gus Williams
Purvis Short
Robert Horry.....when game is on the line!

...hundreds of them out there....

[JustRalph]

Wilt Chamberlain's Wiki article says he invested in Broodmares...........

Never heard that before........

[PhantomOnTour]

Who knows where one turns after 20,000 women... :eek:

[The Judge]

World B. Free!!!

This name has been mentioned Rick Berry, I live in San Francisco he had a terrible personality (a whiner ) but he could put'em in the basket. He was on radio here completely different attitude very likable and he knows the GAME, trades, contracts, positions A-Z Berry knows whats up.

Only title the Warriors have won was 1956 and 1975 with Berry.

Wilt couldn't be stopped, must agree he was scoring not shooting.

[Canarsie]

World B. Free!!!

This name has been mentioned Rick Berry, I live in San Francisco he had a terrible personality (a whiner ) but he could put'em in the basket. He was on radio here completely different attitude very likable and he knows the GAME, trades, contracts, positions A-Z Berry knows whats up.

Only title the Warriors have won was 1956 and 1975 with Berry.

Wilt couldn't be stopped, must agree he was scoring not shooting.

I played against Lloyd he and I grew up in the same neighborhood. He had a great even shot back then. He once played former NFL (Green Bay) fullback John Brockington in the schoolyard it was absolutely hysterical. I think the final score was 21-2 and John had 100 pounds and lots of inches on him.

Looked up his stats and his percentage wasn't as good as I thought but he was one great shooter.

[kingfin66]

Here are a few of what I consider great "shooters" off the top of my head.

Joe Hassett
'Downtown" Fred Brown


Dave,

You had Joe Hassett of the top of your head? LOL, that's incredible. I remember his brief and obscure career with the Sonics. They drafted him out of Providence. He was indeed a great shooter, but never got off the bench because he was playing behind some pretty good guards in Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson and Downtown Freddie Brown. How could I forget Freddie? Now, there was a great shooter!

[Zippy Chippy]

I always thought this was the most unbelievable thing ive ever seen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woZham-kFnI

[skate]

welp...not sure witch generation, but Paul Arizan (?) and/or Pistol, case to be made for either, since ALL the shooters that came later, went to school on those TWO great shooters.Back in the day, before a jump shot, along came Paul, with the average per game around 50, he developes the jumper and scores 80 some points.
Pistol, later broke his record.

All others followed, but they were the school.

The alley-op was developed by Thompson, from Gastonia N.C.(believe dat) another game changer.

[Hank]

Don't know what the stats say, but If I had to pick one player to make a big shot for all the marbles it would be Bird.And I hate Boston.

[castaway01]

Michael Jordan has the highest shooting % all-time and he averaged 30 points a game.

The debate stops there.

Michael Jordan was an amazing scorer, but he's not even in the top 25 for the highest shooting percentages of all time, so I don't know where you got that. Of course, as others have pointed out, centers dominate the highest-shooting percentages list because of all the dunks they get. The top three highest field goal percentages of all time are Artis Gilmore (.599), Mark West (.580) and Shaquille O'Neal (.577). Anyone who ever saw Shaq shoot a free throw knows he could not shoot well.

As far as best pure shooters that I've seen: Bird, Reggie Miller, Nash, Ray Allen, George Gervin all hit that last-second shot.

[dav4463]

Dave,

You had Joe Hassett of the top of your head? LOL, that's incredible. I remember his brief and obscure career with the Sonics. They drafted him out of Providence. He was indeed a great shooter, but never got off the bench because he was playing behind some pretty good guards in Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson and Downtown Freddie Brown. How could I forget Freddie? Now, there was a great shooter!



I saw Joe Hassett torch the Spurs one night with some incredible shots! The guy could flat out shoot. If he would have had a 3 pt shot for his entire career; he would have gotten more play time.

I can't believe I forgot about World B.Free! I used to like the way he would come off a screen and fire that ugly jumper while kicking his legs out trying to draw contact and bait the official into a foul call! It worked a lot too!

I would also add Kevin Grevey. He was a pure shooter as well.

George Gervin was my favorite player growing up, but he got so many shots by driving to the basket that I didn't consider him a "great shooter'.....but "great shooter" i guess could include hitting the "high degree of difficulty shot" as well.

Great shooters in traffic! That should be the next thread:

I nominate George Gervin, Julius Erving, Larry Kenon, Monta Ellis, Reggie Theus, Manu Ginobili, and Kobe Bryant as the circus shot kings! These guys could shoot in traffic at any angle and somehow make a lot of shots.

[Bubbles]

I'll chime in with Dirk Nowitzki, only because any player who's seven feet tall, who you still have to guard on the perimeter, deserves a ton of respect.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/nowitdi01.html

[kid4rilla]

Lamar Mundain

[bks]

Wouldn't think anyone could be added at this juncture, let alone the guy who might have been the best situational shooter:

Andrew Toney.

Larry Bird: "Do I remember Andrew Toney? The Boston Strangler? Yeah, I remember him. I wish we would've had him. He was a killer. We called him the Boston Strangler because every time he got a hold of the ball we knew he was going to score. He was the absolute best I've ever seen at shooting the ball at crucial times. We had nobody who could come close to stopping him. Nobody."

Pat Riley: "He's the greatest clutch player I've ever seen. The hell with Jerry West!"

Charles Barkley: "I thought he (Toney) was the best player on the team when I got here. We had Bobby Jones, Moses Malone, and Julius Erving, but the only one I was in awe of was Andrew."

http://www.thedraftreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2918

Barkley also tells a story during which, at practice, he watched Toney stroke 85 consecutive jump shots from about 18 feet IIRC.

[dav4463]

Agreed on Andrew Toney. He had a really weird (almost two-handed) release.

Another good shooter that I hadn't thought of in a while was former Buck Brian Winters.

[LEON]

raymond lewis cal state l.a.

[JustRalph]

I played against Lloyd he and I grew up in the same neighborhood. He had a great even shot back then. He once played former NFL (Green Bay) fullback John Brockington in the schoolyard it was absolutely hysterical. I think the final score was 21-2 and John had 100 pounds and lots of inches on him.

Looked up his stats and his percentage wasn't as good as I thought but he was one great shooter.

John Brockington was no slouch either. One heck of an athlete.

Another Former Ohio State guy who could shoot was Pete Johnson. He was a part time Recreation leader in Columbus Ohio while he was in school. He could shoot the lights out from 3 point land. Very quick for his size too. I was a teenager, but he had a great pivot move. He was also a fun guy to be around as a Rec Leader. Lots of Woody Hayes stories ..........

[Mr_Ed]

I go with the shortest player in the HOF............Calvin Murphy.

He shot well off the field, too.

14 kids.

[Rookies]

The Pistol!

Check out THIS ball handling... http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pistol+pete+maravich&docid=436442957011&mid=57C67EA147A04B69073657C67EA147A04B690736&FORM=VIRE1#

what a gem he was...:ThmbUp:

[Canarsie]

John Brockington was no slouch either. One heck of an athlete.

Another Former Ohio State guy who could shoot was Pete Johnson. He was a part time Recreation leader in Columbus Ohio while he was in school. He could shoot the lights out from 3 point land. Very quick for his size too. I was a teenager, but he had a great pivot move. He was also a fun guy to be around as a Rec Leader. Lots of Woody Hayes stories ..........

One heck of a guy also. Here's his charity he does wonderful work.

http://www.johnbrockingtonfoundation.org/default.php

Unfortunately for him the NFL game was changing just about the time he was drafted. He had a few good years deserved better. Here's an amazing stat when he played in High School. He averaged 7.5 yards a carry and knocking out 3 guys a game. :eek:

[Zippy Chippy]

Ill take this guy but he never made the NBA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzYh4CGAbCU&feature=related