Don’t look now, but we may have just witnessed one of the greatest regular season shooting performance by two guys ever. First we get Kevin Durant, who has just inducted himself into the super exclusive club of shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 90 percent from the free throw line. The feat has only been accomplished by five players before (Steve Nash, Larry Bird, Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki), but Durant is the youngest to do and he accomplished the feat while almost winning the scoring title.
Durant also took more shots than anyone else to get there. He shot the third most field goals (behind Bird’s two highest), the second-most threes (behind Nowitzki) and 750 free throws. All he needed to do was score 70 last night and he’d have won the scoring title.
Meanwhile, last night saw a record fall in Portland as Stephen Curry hit four threes to break Ray Allen’s single-season three point mark. He also pulled off a hell of a shooting season in his own right, going 45/45/90. And unlike Allen, Steph is shooting his threes off the dribble, rarely coming off screens for wide open shots. Objectively, he’s one of the most entertaining players in the league right now.
Subjectively, I’m incredibly proud. As some of you may know, Steph and I were classmates at Davidson and became good friends, which we still are to this day. I watched him defy odds during the NCAA tournament and continue to play above expectations in the league. I’m just constantly in awe of how great of an NBA player he’s become especially after so many wrote him off due to those pesky ankle injuries over the last couple of years. Now, he’s leading his team to the playoffs and I’ll be the biggest Golden State fan in the country right now.
Now excuse me while I write a curt letter to some coaches who didn’t vote him to the All-Star team.
Update: Quick addition of the homie Jacques Slade’s latest video clip where he hilariously explains why Kevin Durant absolutely hates sneakerheads.