Steph Curry's recent run is the most impressive in NBA history. In particular, his 2015-2016 season is the most impressive scoring season in the three-point era, period. Let's run down some of the amazing parts of Curry's scoring season.
The Oldies
Even if we just want to stick to some of the "simpler" stats, we have:
- Curry has the most three-pointers made in a single NBA season with 402. This shatters the previous high (286, held by Steph Curry) by 116!
- Curry has the most three-pointers attempted in a single NBA season with 886. This shatters the previous high (678, held by George McCould) by 208!
- Curry has the most three-pointers missed in a single NBA season with 484. This shatters the previous high (421, held by Antoine Walker) by 63!
- Curry is the first player to score 30 points per game on the coveted 50/40/90 range (50% from the field, 40% from three, 90% from the line.) It didn't shatter the previous high (29.9 held by Larry Bird) I will note Larry Bird played 39 minutes a game while Curry was at 34.2
h/t to Brett Bearup who noted this amazing gem too: Steph Curry has more threes in the last two seasons than Larry Bird had in his career! That's not exactly a record, but it feels like it should be.
Net Points
One of my favorite metrics of choice is "Net Points" (which is just a fancy way to aggregate True Shooting Percentage) The formula is
Points - [Field Goal Attempts] - 0.44 * [Free Throw Attempts]
The logic being we're interested in total points accounting for missed shots as well. Free throws don't count as full missed shots because players get between one to three of them, and of course, and-ones include the field goal attempt already. Now Curry did something extraordinary this season. Curry shattered the regular season Net Points record! Here's a breakdown of the top ten
Top Ten Net Points Seasons (as of 2015-2015
| Player | Season | Net Points |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Curry | 2015-2016 | 601.0 |
| Adrian Dantley | 1983-1984 | 563.8 |
| Charles Barkley | 1987-1988 | 562.6 |
| Kevin Durant | 2013-2014 | 550.8 |
| Kevin Durant | 2012-2013 | 517.0 |
| Karl Malone | 1989-1990 | 511.3 |
| Adrian Dantley | 1981-1982 | 511.1 |
| Michael Jordan | 1987-1988 | 491.6 |
| Michael Jordan | 1988-1989 | 498.1 |
| Charles Barkley | 1989-1990 | 484.6 |
Curry's last game of the NBA season was special for two reasons. Not only did it get him the 400 threes and the 30 points per game in the 50/40/90 club, but it also crossed him over the 600 Net Points in a season club (he is the sole member!) He already had the record in the bag (much like his three-point record) but his forty-six points on twenty-four shots just got him over the line there.
Career Impressiveness
Now, it's highly unlikely anyone ever touches Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career net-points record (5986.2). Even Karl Malone's second place is distant at "only" 4916.3. That said, Curry's career Net Points are impressive for active players
Top Career Net Points for active NBA Players as of 2015-2016
| Rank | Player | Games | Net Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dirk Nowitzki | 1340 | 4061.6 |
| 2 | LeBron James | 988 | 3757.8 |
| 3 | Paul Pierce | 1318 | 3152.4 |
| 4 | Kevin Durant | 641 | 3044.7 |
| 5 | Kobe Bryant | 1349 | 3038.2 |
| 6 | Amare Stoudemire | 846 | 2589.6 |
| 7 | Dwight Howard | 880 | 2580.4 |
| 8 | Tim Duncan | 1393 | 2436.1 |
| 9 | Dwyane Wade | 857 | 2225.6 |
| 10 | Pau Gasol | 1056 | 2218.7 |
| 11 | Kevin Garnett | 1462 | 2205.4 |
| 12 | Chris Bosh | 893 | 2148.0 |
| 13 | Stephen Curry | 495 | 2073.0 |
| 14 | James Harden | 534 | 1951.2 |
Now Curry still isn't even on top ten. Of course, a few retirements may help him out. That said, he's picked up over 2,000 Net Points in under 500 games! For comparison, Kobe Bryant has taken over 800 more games to get "only" 1,000 more Net Points. Regardless, Curry is on pace for one of the most impressive scoring careers. Durant, no slouch himself, still has a healthy lead though (and is already a better career scorer than Kobe Bryant), and James Harden is on his tail. Here's hoping Durant, Curry, and Harden can all have long careers to see if any of them can come close to Kareem's record!
I'd like to say definitively there's no way Curry can top himself, but at this point, I have no idea. All I can say is he needs to keep his ankles healthy to go as long as he can.
-Dre