LOS ANGELES -- Steph Curry and James Harden stepped onto the floor Monday night, waiting for tipoff, headed to the opposite side of the court from the other. Each stood alone waiting, the two most prolific 3-point shooters in NBA history, waiting to add to their mind-boggling totals.
The smoke still lingered above the floor from the pre-show theatrics before the Clippers hosted the Warriors as each waited to get going. So did the talk of history now that Harden had, a day earlier, notched his spot as the .
Two-thousand nine-hundred seventy-five: That's how many 3s -- across a career of All-Star Games, scoring titles, an MVP, and so many individual moments of greatness -- Harden had drained. He'd passed Ray Allen the day before to cement his place at No. 2 on that list.
Only Curry loomed over him, with a number as absurd as his talent: 3,782. A stunning 807 more 3-pointers made than the guy behind him on the list, the one facing him on the floor as the game got underway.
This connection seemed to wait in every aspect of the buildup of the game. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been asked about Harden's record, and he'd answered with the double difficulty of stopping Harden's 3-point prowess coupled with his penchant for getting to the free-throw line.
"That's what you're dealing with when you play James Harden," Kerr said. "He's going to make some shots, and he's a great player, obviously, a Hall of Fame player, but if he goes to the line 12 or 13 times it's hard to win that game."
Clippers coach Ty Lue had been asked if, given this new hue of history attached to his star player, people really think of Harden as a 3-point shooter.
"I don't think so," Lue said. "You think of the stepback and all the scoring, but you don't think of second all time in 3-pointers made."
Should we? the reporter asked.
Lue laughed. "I guess so, now. Kind of like LeBron coming in as a pass-first guy, but now he's the all-time leading scorer. Kind of like the same thing."
Back on the floor, the game underway, Harden and Curry's places on the list were hard to shake. History had happened into each other the day after Harden made his.
As if on cue, Harden scored first blood, taking just 130 seconds into the game to stop behind the arc, fire, and add again to this tally: No. 2,975.
Curry gave a little nod. Then he marched right down the floor and, seconds later, answered with his own rejoinder: No. 3,783.
In the end, this night would belong to Harden and the Clippers, who held on for a 102-99 victory despite a spirited comeback attempt from Curry and Golden State. Harden dished out 16 assists but scored only 12 points on 4-of-15 from the field and 2-of-6 from deep. Curry led all scorers with 26 points while making six of his 15 3-point attempts.
Still, as the best 3-point shooters of all time, at least by volume, fought it out, there remained a separation between them. Even Harden's new-found link to Curry cast a light on their divide -- one deeper and wider than the 811 made 3s that separated them after Monday night's game.
There's great irony in Harden being matched up with Curry one day after the Beard made his own remarkable history. Such it is with GOATs: They can shine so bright they dull everything around them, even other stars.
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For all Harden's greatness, he has no ring. He is not a Top 10 (or better) player of all time. He does not sit at the level of awe-inspiring dominance his 3-point shooting contemporary does, despite Harden's hard work, his silky and now seemingly timeless offensive gifts, nor his tremendous job so far this season putting the Clippers on his back and carrying them to a better than .500 record.
But at the start of Curry's rise, it was Harden who some thought should cast a shadow over him.
Harden was an All-Star before Steph. He was Sixth Man of the Year for the Thunder before Steph ever garnered a single MVP vote. Harden was in an NBA Finals before anyone believed the Golden State Warriors, then perhaps the most futile team in American sports, could even dare to aspire to such an appearance.
And when Curry finally broke through during that 2014-15 season, many -- including fellow players -- scoffed at the idea of Curry somehow being better than Harden as a player. We forget now, but back then NBA players were so put out when Curry was awarded the 2015 MVP award that the National Basketball Players Association decided to launch its own award -- a correction against those silly media members who had given Curry that vaunted honor.
The NBPA's choice that same season for its inaugural, short-lived MVP award?
James Harden.
Almost 10 years ago, the Steph Curry Era began with real doubt. A couple of years before Curry broke through, I'd had dinner with a rising NBA player -- he's now a superstar -- and we'd wandered into a sports bar in his town on an off night.
On the TV was a Warriors-Knicks game, and this young guy, Steph Curry, balling out. He proceeded to drop 54 points in the Garden, and the player I was with sat an marvelled at the performance over beers.
"That dude's going to be special," the player told me.
Only a few years later, when Curry actually was special, he wanted nothing to do with revisiting that night. He bristled at questions of Curry, a theme that would recur for several years, when top players' handlers, agents and friends would try to plant Curry's not-that-great narratives.
That's all ancient history now, washed away by Curry's very-much accepted and beyond reproach greatness. The same way jealousies and pettiness toward LeBron James, which peaked his first year in Miami, have faded. The same way Michael Jordan's foes went from enemies on the court to friends, or at least admirers, off of it.
Winning meets all-time greatness changes hearts, minds and history.
There's a greatness to Harden, too, one his friend Kevin Durant summed up after he got to No. 2 on that list.
"Congrats, JH, on reaching an amazing accomplishment," Durant said in a social media post. "All the work that you put in has paid off. You inspire so many people around the world with how you play. Been a great teammate, a great friend."
It's just overshadowed by the one player on that 3-point shooting list he'll never catch.
Even in the afterglow of Harden's moment, it's still Curry's world.
