Who was the greatest shooter before Larry Bird had played?

[72-10]

While I do not think he's the GOAT at this now, he was for a time - I'd say Bill Sharman.

[And1AllDay]

jerry west


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzWGnA4Ll-0


60 footers

[StrongLurk]

MJ in high school - 3ball

[And1AllDay]

MJ in high school - 3ball

[bigkingsfan]

jerry west


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzWGnA4Ll-0


60 footers

Watch closely , Wilt illegally inbounded that ball.

[And1AllDay]

Watch closely , Wilt illegally inbounded that ball.

YUP I saw that like

[bizil]

It's gonna have to come down to guys like West, McAdoo, Gervin, etc. The league didn't have the three point line of course. And I don't think MANY GUYS were pulling from that range in general before Bird. West of the three I mentioned was at times for sure. So if u are looking for someone with the blend of very good to great PPG AND potential 50-40-90 shit (the trifecta Bird put on the map in the 80's), then West would have been the closest to maybe hit that mark one year. Pistol was pulling from three ball land as well of course. But his FG% in general wasn't as good as West or Gervin.

But Louie Dampier from the ABA was THE FIRST GUY on US soil that used the three ball as a true weapon. He shot 36% from 3 ball land and 82% from the line in his career. And had two seasons where he hit 198 and 199 3's respectively. He was the closest thing to a Mark Price type PG in that era.

So once again, Bird UPPED the ante for great shooting the league with the new age 3 ball. He was THE GUY to put it on the map initially in Stern's new era NBA. Before that, the lines are somewhat blurred. Because u had several guys who were great midrange shooters. Most of them never really attempted shots from the 3 point area. Because it wasn't in the league back then.

[NBAGOAT]

Rick Barry deserves a mention

[tpols]

pistol pete.

[bizil]

Rick Barry deserves a mention

No doubt Barry is right there as well! He was like a swingman precursor to Bird in many ways. While Bird was a SF-PF type. He shot right around 46% from the field. Which is a damn good clip for a great scorer. From there, he was among the best FT shooters of all time at 89% from the line. In terms of total offenisve skill, he's among the top 3 SF's of all time still to this day. I'm talking scoring skillset, passing, and efficiency as a package! I would say Bird #1, Rick #2, and KD #3 in that regard!

[Manny98]

MJ in high school - 3ball

[BarberSchool]

Watch closely , Wilt illegally inbounded that ball.

YOOOOOOOOOOOO

Never noticed that until now.
Watch it in 0.25x playback speed everyone!

[sdot_thadon]

Probably one of West, Maravich, or Barry. I feel more confident in saying West and Pistol because they were known for having range before the 3 point line even existed.

[BarberSchool]

Maravich averaged 44ppg in college when hand checking was legal, and without a 3point line.

I think it

[sdot_thadon]

[QUOTE=BarberSchool]Maravich averaged 44ppg in college when hand checking was legal, and without a 3point line.

I think it