There’s no doubt the headline stories for the Golden State Warriors this season have been the all-time best 73 wins in a single season and the almost-unimaginable 402 3-pointers for Stephen Curry.
Much of the press frenzy has focused on the pursuit of the Chicago Bulls’ 72-win record. The Warriors opened the season with a record 24-0 start, they were the fastest ever to both 50 and 60 wins, and had the longest home winning streak across seasons (54 games, including last year). Lost in that storyline were some other amazing records:
- The most wins on the road with 34
- The best record against top-10 teams (21-2)
- The only team ever not to lose two games in a row
- The only team ever not to lose to the same opponent twice in a season
Those facts bode well for the playoffs.
As amazing as that is, Curry’s 3-pointer record is even more remarkable. To put it in context, Curry surpassed the previous best of 286 3-pointers which he set last season. That’s a 40% improvement over the previous record in one year. Other than Babe Ruth’s increase in home runs from 29 to 54, I can find no other athlete in any other sport who has achieved anything equivalent. (Readers, any other ideas?)
How dominant is Steph from three-point range? Curry shot 45.4% from three-point range; the league average was 35.3%. He was second in 3-point percentage among players who averaged at least three 3-pointers per game. Steph led the league in both 3-pointers attempted and made per game. This season wasn’t an anomaly. Curry owns three of the top four most 3-pointers in a season; his splash brother Klay Thompson has the other.
Yes, amazing. Ridiculous. Unprecedented.
But that’s not even the most incredible stat. Steph Curry has made at least one 3-pointer in 152 straight games… and counting. The streak started on Nov 13, 2014 and has lasted almost two complete seasons. I won’t be surprised if it lasts another two seasons and the streak tops 300 games.
Hi Jonathan,
In this illustrious career of 23 yrs playing international cricket as part of the Indian cricket team, Sachin Tendulkar (better known as “The God of cricket”) had quite a few prime years when he bettered his record of runs scored (in one-day international format) by as much as 260% YoY, with an average YoY growth of 35% across 23 yrs.
Now we have another one in the making (Virat Kohli), who’s getting ready to give Sachin a run for his money! 🙂
IMHO Bob Beamon’s 1968 long jump world record qualifies as a similar feat.
Was about to mention Sachin in Cricket, but Gaurav beat me to it. Steph is GOD too!