One of the best “catch and shoot” players of all time, Dale Ellis dropped a lot of long distance bombs on opposing teams throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

 
3-pt field goals made: 1719 (3rd all time)

3-pt %: .403

 
When Dale Ellis entered the NBA in 1983 shooting from downtown was way less popular than it is now. The 3 point shot was introduced only a few seasons ago and it took a while for it to gain popularity. Dale Ellis was one of the first players who started using three ball as one of his main weapons.

 
Dale wasn’t known as a shooter while playing for University of Tennessee but he always had the 3 point shot in his arsenal – he was just forced to play center as a youngster because of his height. He spent his first 3 seasons in Dallas and never averaged more than 10 points per game. In his 2nd and 3rd season he combined for 1175 points and 315 of them came from 3-point shots. In those two years only 3 players (World B Free, Bird and Hodges) hit more threes than Ellis.

 
In 1986 he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics and it turned out to be a career changing trade for him. He had suddenly become one of the league’s top scorers as he averaged almost 25 PPG. It didn’t come as a surprise that he also won the NBA Most Improved Player Award that season. Surprisingly, Seattle went all the way to the Western Conference Finals after missing playoffs the previous year.

 
Next season Ellis was one of three Seattle players who averaged more than 20 points (Ellis at 25.8 ppg, McDaniel at 21.4, and Chambers at 20.4). It was the first season when Dale made more than 100 threes but still he proved that he has become a much more versatile scorer – only 16% of his points came from threes. Unfortunately, SuperSonics lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

 
1988-1989 was probably his best season. He made his only All-Star game and won the 3-point contest. Only Micheal Jordan and Karl Malone averaged more points in 88-89 than Ellis (27.5 PPG). That season he made 162 3-pointers while having an outstanding 0.478 percentage from behind the 3-point line. Sonics made it to the second round of the playoffs in 1989.

 
He played only 55 games in the following season and then he was traded to Milwaukee. Dale’s playing time was significantly reduced there but it was still solid – close to 30 minutes per game. His minutes went up again when he was playing for the San Antonio Spurs from 1992 to 1994. Dale was a very effective scorer in San Antonio shooting nearly 50% from the field but he wasn’t getting any younger.

 
After these two seasons in San Antonio, at age 34, he signed with the Denver Nuggets. Many players retire when in their mid-30s but Ellis still managed to put together a string of 3 solid seasons in Denver. In 1996-1997 he averaged almost 17 points every night and that was his second best scoring season since leaving Seattle in 1990. However, he wasn’t shooting very well – 0.414 from the field. Dale really fell in love with the three ball that season as he made career high 192 3-pointers.

 
In the twilight of his career, Ellis returned to Seattle to play there for two seasons. Dale was just a couple of years removed from his 40th birthday but he was still good for 10 points every night. 1999-2000 was his last season in the NBA.

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3-pt field goals made: 2560 (1st all time)

3-pt %: 0.395 (40th all time)

Reggie wasn’t quite the center of attention during the 1987 NBA draft. 10 players were selected before Indiana Pacers chose to draft Miller with the 11th pick as you can see it in this Reggie video. He was surprised because he didn’t know much about this franchise and Pacer fans weren’t quite happy with this choice because Indiana didn’t draft the local star Steve Alford.

It didn’t take long for Miller to gain some respect from the fans as Reggie progressed fast and by his 3rd season he already averaged 24.6 ppg and that still remains the highest scoring average of his career. He also proved that he is a great 3-point shooter by hitting 150 out of 362 threes. He was selected to play in the All-Star game for the first time in his career. Reggie was a beast during his early years in the league and he also participated in some funny commercials.

Reggie hit more and more threes every year and in 1992-93 season he set a new franchise record with 167 three-point field goals. The great 3 point shooter Miller also scored his career high 57 points against the Hornets that season. He averaged more than 20 ppg in each season from 1990 to 1993 but Indiana never won a playoff series. However it all changed next season…

Reggie’s points per game average had slipped a bit but he did hit his long-distance shots very accurately (his 3p% was 0.421). The most important thing was that his team was playing very good and Pacers finished with franchise-high 47 wins. Indiana beat Orlando and top-seeded Atlanta as they advanced to the conference finals where they played the Knicks. These series took Reggie’s popularity to a whole another level mainly because of his epic game 5 performance. This is probably the most famous Reggie video as it displays his incredible performance in game 5 where he was practically unstoppable. Reggie scored 39 points and 25 of them came in the 4th quarter. Although Knicks won the series Indiana and Reggie showed that they are for real. Miller was the leading scorer of the USA Basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championship.

1994-1995 was another great season for Reggie as he averaged 19.6 points. Indiana’s roster saw improvement – they signed point guard Mark Jackson and he teamed with Reggie to help the Pacers win 52 games. Reggie was a starter at the All-star game for the first time in his career. Indiana easily dispatched Atlanta in the first round of the 1995 playoffs and they were going to face a familiar foe in the second round. Reggie was ready!

Miller proved once again that he’s a clutch 3 point shooter and single-handedly turned around game 1 by scoring 8 points in 9 seconds. He averaged 22.6 ppg in these series and Indiana beat the Knicks in 7 games. Unfortunately Pacers great playoff run was stopped by Orlando Magic and for the second season in a row they lost in the conference finals.

During the next 2 seasons Reggie remained as one of the top scorers and probably the best 3-point shooter in the league but his team wasn’t quite successful until 1997-98 season. However in the 1996-97 season Miller hit career-high 229 pointers and his 3P% was also spectacular – .427.

Larry Bird started to coach the Pacers in 1997 and next season turned out to be very successful. Miller was great and for the third time in his career he was selected to the All-NBA third team. Pacers won 58 games and had a deep playoff run and in the conference finals they met with a team which could draft Miller in 1987 but instead took Horace Grant – the 5 time NBA champions Chicago Bulls. In game 4 Reggie was the hero as he won the game with this clutch shot. Indiana had a legit chance to advance to the Finals as they were leading in the 4th quarter of game 7 but eventually they lost.

Next season Indiana Pacers again advanced to the Conference Finals where they again got beat this time by the Knicks. In 1999-2000 Reggie’s ppg slipped to 18.1 but he still earned his 5th All-star appearance which turned out to be his last. Pacers remained an eastern powerhouse and with Micheal Jordan gone their chances to finally advance to the finals were good and they used them. Indiana beat New York in the Conference Finals and earned their first NBA Finals appearance. Reggie finally had a shot to win his first ring at age 34 but LA Lakers turned out to be stronger and the series were over after 6 games.

During the next season Reggie became the first player to make 2000 3-point shots over the course of his career. During the first few years of the 21st century Indiana didn’t go far in the playoffs but Reggie was putting up very solid stats for a veteran player which he had become. However he still remained a great 3-point shooter and provided some amazing clutch plays in the playoffs.

2003-04 season was successful for the Indiana Pacers as they advanced to the eastern conference finals where they lost to the eventual champions Detroit in 6 games but Reggie wasn’t the leader of the team anymore. Pacers were strong and it seemed possible that Reggie could finally win his first championship ring but the pistons pacers brawl which occurred in the November of 2004 ruined his chances. Several Indiana players were suspended and the core of the team was severely damaged. So Reggie finally retired after the season.

After his retirement he joined TNT as an NBA analyst and he even considered to come back from his retirement and join the Boston Celtics in 2007 after they formed their big three but that never happened.

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3-pt field goals made: 1390 (16th all time)
3-pt %: 0.432 (5th all time)

The percentage is what stands out. 43 % is outstanding.

1996 NBA draft is definitely one of the best in history and Steve Nash was one of its members. He was selected with the 15th pick. NBA teams weren’t sure if they want to use their pick to draft a seemingly unathletic and short white guy. And he wasn’t really the star of the show during his first season. He averaged just 3.3 points in 10.5 minutes and made only 23 three-pointers during the season. It took a few more years for him to break out and it happened in 2000. He averaged 15.6 points and 1.3 threes during the 2000-2001 season and helped Mavs to make the playoffs for the first time since 1990. Next year he was even better averaging 1.9 three-pointers per game and he made his first all star game and All-NBA 3rd team. He shot lights out from downtown and ranked 5th in 3-pt percentage (0.455). His Mavericks looked good early in the playoffs as they swept the Timberwolves and Kevin Garnett. Dallas advanced to the 2nd round where they were beaten by the powerful Sacramento Kings and so their postseason was over. Nash with Nowitzki and Finley, who were both also very good shooters, formed the Mavericks “big three”.

The Dallas big three

It was the 2003 playoffs when Dallas really showed what they are capable off advancing to the conference finals. Nash missed the majority of the regular season but returned for the playoffs and played an important role for the Mavs. He was deadly from the 3-point land – he made 37 out of 76. Nash and the Mavericks won 52 games the following year but lost to Sacramento in the first round and after the season Nash became a free agent.
Nash was already 30 years old at the time and Mark Cuban decided to build the team around younger Nowitzki and his former team Phoenix Suns offered him a better contract so he returned to Arizona.
Phoenix was a young team which apparently lacked one key element and Nash was the real deal. He completely turned around the Suns franchise and they went from 29–53 record to 62–20 league-best record in 2004-05 season. Steve had turned from a borderline all-star player to an elite player and his Suns were on a mission to win the NBA title. The Suns were hot during the first two rounds of the playoffs and beat Steve’s old team in the second round but they couldn’t handle the Spurs in the conference finals so their season was over. However it was a great playoff run for the Suns and Nash was brilliant. He averaged career-high 23.9 points per game in the playoffs. During these playoffs he was more of a scorer than shooter as only 63 of his 358 points came from 3-pointers.

Next year Amare Stoudemire suffered a very serious injury. However the Suns remained strong and Nash remained great. He joined Magic Johnson as the only two point guards in league history to win the MVP trophy 2 times in a row. This was also the first year when he was a starter at the all-star game. Suns again reached the conference finals where they again lost, this time to Nash’s former team, Dallas.
In 2006-07 Nash took more threes and also improved his percentage. He hit 2.1 three-pointers per game and his 3p% was 0.455. Steve was once again in the MVP discussion but he didn’t win it this time but Suns were unable to go further than 2nd round in the playoffs. In the playoffs Nash was a very efficient long distance shooter as he made 19 of 39 three-point shots. Including some clutch threes.

Next regular season was the best for Nash in terms of shooting, he shot 47% from downtown and made 179 threes which are both career-highs for him. Suns had a successful regular season by winning 55 games but for the third time in four years San Antonio eliminated them from the playoffs.
In 2008-09 Suns missed the playoffs for the first time since Steve returned to Phoenix but Nash was still a sharp shooter shooting 44% from 3-point territory and this year Nash has proved that he is still an elite player who is capable of taking his team to a whole another level. Phoenix is not counted as a serious championship contender this year because Suns are overshadowed by the likes of LA, Boston, Orlando and Cleveland but it is up to Nash to prove haters wrong. His long distance shooting ability remains as one of Steve’s main weapons. Nash for threeeeeeee!!!

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