Fox Sports Radio host Rob Parker has been quite candid about his willingness to embrace being wrong in the past. Recently, he shared an opinion regarding Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry that most basketball fans strongly disagree with. During a recent episode of Parker’s radio show, The Odd Couple, alongside Kelvin Washington, the duo discussed Curry’s remarkable achievement of making his 4,000th three-point shot, a feat unmatched by any other player.
While many view this milestone as evidence that Curry is the greatest shooter in basketball history, Parker offered a contrarian view, asserting, “He’s just not the greatest shooter of all-time. I would take a lot of other players in a big moment. When you call someone the greatest shooter, it implies that under any circumstances, you would trust them with the ball when a basket is needed. I don’t care what anyone says; he has had 14 opportunities to tie or win games in the postseason, and he hasn’t made any.” Parker elaborated, saying, “If he had all the threes and he was 7-14, then you could cite those big shots when the game was on the line. However, the most significant threes he made were in the Olympics, which don’t count in the NBA. Only one of those shots qualified as a clutch shot according to NBA standards, requiring a situation of being down by five or less with five minutes remaining. In the Olympics, he was up by six, extending the lead to nine—which isn’t a clutch situation.”
Parker continues, “I truly believe he disqualifies himself from being considered the greatest shooter. He is undoubtedly the greatest three-point maker, and I would be lying if I said otherwise. However, there is a distinction between the two. I would trust players like Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, or Michael Jordan with the ball in a critical moment before I would give it to Steph Curry.”
The fundamental flaw in Parker’s argument lies in the outdated statistics he references. It seems he is pointing to a stat from the 2022-23 NBA postseason, suggesting Curry had not made a go-ahead shot within the final 45 seconds of a playoff game. Currently, Curry stands at 6-39 on these go-ahead shots in the final 45 seconds, which, while not impressive, isn’t as dire as Parker suggests.
Furthermore, considering the NBA’s definition of a “clutch shot”—any shot attempted within the final five minutes or overtime when the score is within five points—Curry’s playoff stats reveal a much more favorable comparison to the players Parker favors. Under those conditions, Curry boasts a 40.1% shooting percentage in the playoffs, only slightly below Michael Jordan’s 41.9% and Ray Allen’s 42.8% but actually surpasses Reggie Miller’s 39.8%.
In conclusion, the term clutch is inherently subjective regardless of the NBA’s labeling. What remains indisputable, however, is that Curry has achieved more three-point attempts than any player in basketball history, a gap that continues to grow throughout his career. While Parker may persist in denying Curry’s position as the best shooter in the sport, the majority of basketball fans remain unconvinced by his arguments.
