After what felt like a week of imminent anticipation, Stephen Curry became the NBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers made on Tuesday night, surpassing Ray Allen’s career total of 2,973. Allen was courtside at Madison Square Garden to witness the moment, and the two embraced post-game.
Later, the Hall of Fame sharpshooter took to Instagram to congratulate his successor atop the three-point leaderboard.
“The torch has been passed and it is in good hands!” Allen wrote on his IG. “Congratulations to @stephencurry30 @wardell5 and the whole Curry family!”
Allen’s record stood for more than 10 years after he surpassed Reggie Miller in February 2011. Alongside Brian Anderson, Miller called the game for TNT, so the league’s three most prolific outside shooters of all-time were in attendance to revel in the experience.
Enjoying yet another MVP-caliber season, Curry appears poised to significantly distance himself from Allen in the coming years, just as Allen did to Miller (2,560 career threes) before retiring. Whether Curry is ever the torchbearer like those two were feels more tenuous, though.
Nonetheless, Tuesday was special for a number for people, none more than Curry, one of the NBA’s greatest players and unequivocally its best shooter ever. The fact Allen and Curry were there together simply furthered the gravity of such an occurrence.