Visualizing Splash Brothers' Climb Up NBA's All-Time 3-Point List

The collective brilliance of Golden State Warriors splash siblings Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson is common knowledge.

But that's no excuse for NBA fans to lose sight of their individual feats.

The historical significance of the pair has as much to do with each player's own three-point prowess as it does their collective contributions from behind the arc.

Taken together, Thompson and Curry are a downtown duo unlike any the league has ever seen. In 2012-13, they set the record for most triples by two teammates with 483. They topped that mark with 484 last season and could clear it again this time around (383 with 20 games remaining).

But those collective statistics are only made possible by the unique gifts each Splash Brother brings to the table. 

The NBA has rarely, if ever, employed players with a better shooting stroke than Thompson.

"My college coach, Tony Bennett, once told me my freshman year that when I shoot, envision water going from my toes to my fingertips in one fluid motion," Thompson told Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling. "All the great shooters' shots are like a reverse waterfall. ... They've all got one fluid motion—no real hitches in their shots."

The list of players who can create and convert the three bombs Curry drops might start and stop with this season's leading All-Star vote-getter.

"Chagrined to gratified within like three seconds. That pretty much sums it up," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of his reaction to the above shot, per Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle.

When either player takes aim from distance, defenses are left scratching their heads or throwing their hands up in frustration. There is no other option due to the quantity-plus-quality numbers this pair has posted.

And that's why both Thompson and Curry are skyrocketing up the NBA's all-time list.

Over the past few weeks, Curry has been slaying some of the game's great downtown dragons. Through 396 games, Curry has already moved to 59th in career triples.

Not counting non-retired players, Curry has moved in front of eight sharpshooters since Feb. 20: Derek Harper, Lindsey Hunter, Gilbert Arenas, Tracy McGrady, Cuttino Mobley, Rasheed Wallace, Dana Barros and Latrell Sprewell.

The graph below shows when Curry left each of those eight names in his wake.

Judging by the 3.6 threes he's averaged since the start of 2012-13, he'll need less than half of a season to leapfrog another eight retired snipers: David Wesley, Gary Payton, Steve Smith, Wesley Person, Dennis Scott, Chuck Person, John Starks and Hersey Hawkins.

The graph below highlights when fans can expect Curry to make those moves.

Impossible as this may sound, Thompson has actually tickled the twine at even faster rate.

Only Damian Lillard made more threes over his first three seasons (552 and counting) than Thompson (545), and the Warriors marksman has picked up the pace during his fourth go-round.

He's averaging a career-high 3.1 threes per game and shooting a personal-best 43.2 percent from beyond the arc.

In the last two months, Thompson has moved ahead of such prominent perimeter shooters as Danny Ferry, Bryon Russell, Bobby Jackson, Rodney Rogers, Kerry Kittles, Dominique Wilkins and Steve Kerr. Thompson's last three-point shot moved him alongside Hubert Davis for 138th all time.

If he keeps striping at his current clip (2.7 per game since 2012-13), Thompson needs just 25 games to put eight more notable names in his rear-view: Toni Kukoc, Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose, Tracy Murray, Jamal Mashburn, Rick Fox, Byron Scott and Robert Horry.

Anything feels possible for the future of this tandem. No matter how far down the road one peers, it still seems within reach.

That includes Ray Allen's record-setting 2,973 triples—assuming the sharpshooter resists the NBA's siren song and lets his final tally stand where it is. Curry only needs another 1,868 threes to reach that mark. Using his pace from above, he could hit that number in about 519 more games (a little more than six full seasons).

Thompson is 2,245 treys shy of Allen's mark, but Father Time is on his side. If Thompson keeps cashing in 3.1 threes per game like he has this season, he'd need about 725 games to reach Allen's level (just under nine seasons).

If the Splash Brothers can avoid injury, there's no reason they couldn't at least threaten Allen's three-point throne.

Each is an all-time great shooter on his own already. The fact both are chasing history together is simply absurd.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.

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