To the question ‘are great shooters born or made,’ the answer is — as with most things — both.
Take for example the greatest shooter who has ever lived, and may ever live: Steph Curry, who taken and made more threes under more difficult circumstances than anyone in the history of the sport. He owns the record for made threes and no one playing today has a reasonable chance to break it. When it comes to the three-ball, he’s Babe Ruth. The NBA’s version of Hank Aaron will come along eventually, but it’s going to take a minute.
It’s easy to make the point that Curry was born to be great. Seth Curry actually ranks a few decimal points ahead of his older brother in terms of accuracy (43.4 compared with 42.7) thanks to a more makeable diet of attempts. Their father, Dell Curry, was one of the NBA’s original three-point specialists, back when being a three-point threat meant squaring up for three attempts a game. But he would have fit in well today. His release was that quick, his form that perfect.
So like father, like sons? Sure, no one is arguing that point. But Steph Curry famously had to remake his shot as he got ready for high school basketball. The ‘bend low and sling it from the hip’ style he used to make NBA threes when he was an 11-year-old tossing bombs at the Toronto Raptors‘ practice facility when Dell was a Raptor wasn’t going to cut it against real competition.
So father and son spent one summer together patiently and painstakingly rebuilding his mechanics as Steph released the ball from above his eyeline, making it harder to defend. There was frustration and tears, but through that came the best to ever do it. And even now, in his 15th NBA season and still playing at peak levels, Steph Curry’s shooting routines are legendary among those lucky enough to watch them. They are high intensity and mimic any kind of situation he might have to shoot from in a game. The logo threes that he introduced to the NBA were a product of his dedicated practice and strength training. He didn’t have 30-foot range as a skinny NBA rookie, but he does know as a fitness-obsessed vet.
The Golden State Warriors star was born with a shooter’s genes, but he didn’t become the best ever by chance.
Which brings us to Scottie Barnes. The Raptors forward is on the cusp of doing something no one could have predicted, and certainly not this early in his career: becoming an elite, high-volume three-point shooter.
Yes, it’s just 24 games into his third NBA season and we’ll see how sustainable it is as the season runs along, defences tighten up and legs get weary.
But for now? Call it what it is.
There are only 20 players so far this season with at least 125 three-point attempts who are connecting on 39.5 per cent of them. Barnes is in a club with the very best shooters in the world: Curry, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Duncan Robinson, Eric Gordon and Lauri Markkanen, to name a few. Marksmen all.
But when it comes to how he gained entry to those ranks? Barnes is in a club of one.
The third-year wing averaged just 29 per cent from three in his first two seasons, converting on 121 of 417 attempts. He was a bad shooter.
To it in perspective: there were 171 players who attempted at least 400 threes over the past two seasons and Barnes ranked 169th. Noted mason Russell Westbrook shot a higher percentage from three the past two years than Barnes. So did Dillon Brooks, who was run out of Memphis in part because of his penchant for high-volume missing.
But watching Barnes shoot now and it’s hard not to think that even if he regresses from his current pace, the days of him missing seven of his 10 threes or more are behind him.
How has this happened?
The Raptors have invested millions in high-tech shooting analytics systems and have a small army of assistant coaches and player development experts to help coax what seems like a teachable skill out of athletes who check all the other boxes. But with a few notable exceptions, average shooters have remained average, and poor shooters have stayed just that.
Interestingly, Barnes says his improvement has been more mental than mechanical. He may not have been born a great shooter, but he was born with the ability to will himself to do things that most athletes can’t.
“Just being able to feel my shot, making sure it feels good. That was just the main thing,” he said of his secret sauce. “Being able to shoot it. Just having that mindset where every time I catch the ball and I’m open, just being ready to take that shot. So I think a lot of preparation comes into it as well … Just reps and shot preparation, that was the main thing. Just being ready to shoot the ball every time I get it. Shoot it without hesitation, without thinking about it.”
It wasn’t exactly that easy. Barnes spends a lot of time in the summers with his long-time skills coach, Brian Macon, who comes to Toronto to check on him from time to time and even joins him on the road occasionally.
With the Raptors, Barnes has worked closely with assistant coach Jama Mahlalela since early August.
“Every time when he would come and work out with us, there was intention behind his shooting,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “… Coach Jama is doing a really good job. Just really focusing on basics from day one. It was a clear plan for him. You know, preparation for the shot, staying squared up in his hips, staying in the shot, follow through, focusing on the straight-line shooting, like very basic stuff.
“And he has completely bought into that so he he’s putting a lot of work into it daily and every time he gets into gym and he focuses on that, he’s seeing good results in a game. So that’s something that we cannot veer off; we got to continue working on that to developing and taking into a next level. You know, for next year he’ll be having more off the dribble and movement. But right now, what he’s doing he’s doing at a high level.”
It’s created opportunities for the Raptors that couldn’t have been anticipated. Coming into the season, the Raptors were very light on established three-point threats: OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr. and … that was about it. Having Barnes emerge as someone who defences either have to adjust to or that he can punish if they don’t has been an unexpected bonus.
It’s also hastened Barnes’ trajectory to stardom. There are only nine players in league history to have ever averaged at least 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal for a full season — Barnes is averaging 20.1/9.1/5.6/1.7/1.2 — and none have done it at age 22. Only Larry Bird ever did it while shooting better than 39 per cent from three.
What Barnes is doing is extraordinary, and if the ‘how’ is a mixture of magic and mechanics, so be it, and don’t question it.
“As soon as I catch the ball and I see some daylight, be ready,” says Barnes. “I think that’s what it’s most about, taking the shot as soon as you see it.”
