3 best midrange shooters by decade

[Gibson22]

GO!

[rk2023]

Need more time for a comprehensive list and equal decade distributions, but my top mid-range guys of all time in no order (looking at proficiency and what on film I can instantly recall, more than volume rather):

Nash
Paul
West
Jordan
Kobe
Durant
Kawhi
Dirk
Kareem
Jokic

[Colbinii]

1960s: West, Oscar, Greer
1970s: Gervin, Goodrich, Westphal
1980s: Bird, English, I Thomas
1990s: Miller, Jordan, Price
2000s: Nash, Dirk, Garnett
2010s: CP3, Durant, Curry

[AEnigma]

1960s: Oscar, West, regular season Greer / postseason Sam Jones

1970s: Barry, Gervin, Westphal, Fred Brown, Jack Marin, Jon McGlocklin, Lou Hudson, Goodrich, Dick Snyder, Calvin Murphy, Dick Van Arsdale…

1980s: Bird, English, Walter Davis, Jeff Malone, Eddie Johnson, Rolando Blackman, Kiki, Tripucka, Chambers, King/Dantley (not deep mid-range)…
Great decade for mid-range volume scoring

1990s: Jordan, Price, Mullin, Allan Houston, Hornacek, Mahmoud, late career Karl Malone, the Miller/Schrempf/Smits Pacers trio…

2000s: Dirk, Nash, Cassell, Garnett, Rip, Jet

2010s: Durant, Chris Paul, David West, Kyrie, Redick, Steph

[Owly]

1960s: West, Oscar, Greer
1970s: Gervin, Goodrich, Westphal
1980s: Bird, English, I Thomas
1990s: Miller, Jordan, Price
2000s: Nash, Dirk, Garnett
2010s: CP3, Durant, Curry

Granting that I'm lower than most on Thomas and the limitations of the tools, eyeballing it I think most (all?) the rest will be north of 80% from the stripe (and mostly north of at least 82%) ... he stands out to me. I'm not aware of him having that rep particularly. Dumars I would think more so. I could be wrong.


I'll throw out Rickey Pierce reputationally as a name (i think) not yet mentioned for that era (perhaps to a lesser degree former Sonics teammate Eddie Johnson - though looking at it I think that's what another poster meant).

Some of the better long 2 (past 16ft, per Reference) "career" (since '97) percentages belong to
Bogues (only shooting wide open, small sample)
Bonner
Ferry
Kerr
Hornacek
Stockton

some short midrangers (10-16ft) with a strong percentage include
Seth Curry
M Price
McCollum
Paul
Kerr
Ricky Pierce

Obviously looks vary, my list isn't comprehensive or fully up to date, the shortened 3pt line for 97 making the average distance of a "long 2" shorter may especially tilt small samples around that era (Bogues, Price to a lesser degree Ferry and others).

Oh and it can depend if you're targeting specifically good at midrange (i.e. not 3pt) or the best shooters from there whatever else they may be (e.g . could be even better from 3).

[AEnigma]

Yeah I meant Eddie Johnson (not the Kings one).

[Owly]

Yeah I meant Eddie Johnson (not the Kings one).

I think that you do mean the Kings [and Phoenix and Seattle ....] (tall, forward, cleaner off court rep) one and not the primarily Hawks one (guard, shorter, had off-court issues).
But yes, I see it's edited.

Edit: Or at least, per my previous comment the forward would be the one more regarded as having a sweet shot. I can't actually claim to know your intent.

[70sFan]

1950s: Arizin, Sharman, Yardley
1960: West, Oscar, Jones
1970s: Gervin, Barry, Westphal
1980s: King, English, Bird
1990s: Jordan, Miller, Price
2000s: Dirk, Nash, Kobe
2010s: Durant, Paul, Kawhi

[70sFan]

Need more time for a comprehensive list and equal decade distributions, but my top mid-range guys of all time in no order (looking at proficiency and what on film I can instantly recall, more than volume rather):

Nash
Paul
West
Jordan
Kobe
Durant
Kawhi
Dirk
Kareem
Jokic

What do you think about Oscar and Gervin? I think both can be inside that list.

[rk2023]

Need more time for a comprehensive list and equal decade distributions, but my top mid-range guys of all time in no order (looking at proficiency and what on film I can instantly recall, more than volume rather):

Nash
Paul
West
Jordan
Kobe
Durant
Kawhi
Dirk
Kareem
Jokic

What do you think about Oscar and Gervin? I think both can be inside that list.

For sure, there’s others whom slipped my mind in hindsight. I’d have to revisit as a whole.

[Colbinii]

1960s: West, Oscar, Greer
1970s: Gervin, Goodrich, Westphal
1980s: Bird, English, I Thomas
1990s: Miller, Jordan, Price
2000s: Nash, Dirk, Garnett
2010s: CP3, Durant, Curry

Granting that I'm lower than most on Thomas and the limitations of the tools, eyeballing it I think most (all?) the rest will be north of 80% from the stripe (and mostly north of at least 82%) ... he stands out to me. I'm not aware of him having that rep particularly. Dumars I would think more so. I could be wrong.


I'll throw out Rickey Pierce reputationally as a name (i think) not yet mentioned for that era (perhaps to a lesser degree former Sonics teammate Eddie Johnson - though looking at it I think that's what another poster meant).

Some of the better long 2 (past 16ft, per Reference) "career" (since '97) percentages belong to
Bogues (only shooting wide open, small sample)
Bonner
Ferry
Kerr
Hornacek
Stockton

some short midrangers (10-16ft) with a strong percentage include
Seth Curry
M Price
McCollum
Paul
Kerr
Ricky Pierce

Obviously looks vary, my list isn't comprehensive or fully up to date, the shortened 3pt line for 97 making the average distance of a "long 2" shorter may especially tilt small samples around that era (Bogues, Price to a lesser degree Ferry and others).

Oh and it can depend if you're targeting specifically good at midrange (i.e. not 3pt) or the best shooters from there whatever else they may be (e.g . could be even better from 3).

I hit the and-1 twice, oops!

Yeah, I was trying to go off of impactful vs straight %, which becomes a very subjective exercise.

[AEnigma]

Yeah I meant Eddie Johnson (not the Kings one).

I think that you do mean the Kings [and Phoenix and Seattle ....] (tall, forward, cleaner off court rep) one and not the primarily Hawks one (guard, shorter, had off-court issues).
But yes, I see it's edited.

Edit: Or at least, per my previous comment the forward would be the one more regarded as having a sweet shot. I can't actually claim to know your intent.

The other Eddie was a decent shot too, but lol, yes, I was conflating the one’s Kings tenure with him. Not good for memory to have two similarly good players with the same name at the same time.

[wojoaderge]

Bob McAdoo

[70sFan]

Bob McAdoo

I forgot about him, could be ahead of Westphal for sure.

[oaktownwarriors87]

No love for Otto Porter Jr? That dudes midrange game is money.

[SHAQ32]

Mike Bibby, Grant Hill aka Glass Heel

[homecourtloss]

1950s: Arizin, Sharman, Yardley
1960: West, Oscar, Jones
1970s: Gervin, Barry, Westphal
1980s: King, English, Bird
1990s: Jordan, Miller, Price
2000s: Dirk, Nash, Kobe
2010s: Durant, Paul, Kawhi

Any room for Frazier with that beautiful lean in shot when going left? Walt put up some gaudy TS Added numbers shooting a lot of those shots. I know you posted a video about him so you might have some tracking data — a lot of those attempts were unassisted and were contested and very difficult turnaround shots, or they were pull ups with a lot of hand jostling pre-shot. It was an absolutely beautiful shot.

[70sFan]

1950s: Arizin, Sharman, Yardley
1960: West, Oscar, Jones
1970s: Gervin, Barry, Westphal
1980s: King, English, Bird
1990s: Jordan, Miller, Price
2000s: Dirk, Nash, Kobe
2010s: Durant, Paul, Kawhi

Any room for Frazier with that beautiful lean in shot when going left? Walt put up some gaudy TS Added numbers shooting a lot of those shots. I know you posted a video about him so you might have some tracking data — a lot of those attempts were unassisted and were contested and very difficult turnaround shots, or they were pull ups with a lot of hand jostling pre-shot. It was an absolutely beautiful shot.

That's a great mention! I don't have a shooting data for him yet, but he's extremely efficient for someone who mostly scored his points from midrange. I could put him over Westphal or even Barry to be honest.

[Bwelc679]

70s: 1. Rick Barry, could shoot from anywhere along with elite passing. His jump shot is what made him unstoppable though.
2. Bob Macadoo, would be super fun to see as a small ball center in today's NBA with his elite shooting capabilities.
3. George Gervin, I'm sure he would be great at the three if in today's era but he has famously been quoted for saying the 3 pointer was looked at as a poor shot in his time which it was. Had such a beautiful shooting stroke to go along with his drive and finger roll.

80s: 1.Larry Bird, a top 5 shooter of all time with a high releasing unblockable jump shot. Practiced for hours and hours and never saw an angle he couldn't manage.
2. Bernard King, more of a high post mod range but could step further back at times. His turn around was so quick and high releasing a long with an uncanny ability to bump his defender and get his shot off with ease. Incredibly high field goal percentage for a guy taking jumpers.
3. Dale Ellis, Just an incredibly coordinated athlete who was way beyond his time as a shooter. Clearly the first elite 3 point shooter but his range was anywhere from the three to the high post. Just flat out accurate.

90s: 1. Mark Price, another guy who could basically shoot anywhere on the court with the midrange included. If you leave him open it's going in. Would have shot a ton more threes in today's era but for his era he just shot wherever he was open and rarely missed.
2. Michael Jordan, umm the GOAT? Made a living in the midrange when not blowing by for a dunk. Absolutely devastating fade away or mid range pull up.
3. Reggie Miller, another top 5 shooter of all time by my estimation. Absolutely anywhere on the court including long 2s and short 2s. Define mid range and regardless of what you say I guarantee that's an area where Reggie doesn't miss.
(Terry Porter is the most underrated point guard of all time and as a shooter he is only surpassed by one other point guard in that era which is Mark Price, Stockton was too scurred)

00s: 1. Sam Cassell, one of my top 10 favorite players of all time that always gets me made fun of. Sam was deadly from the midrange and could get his shot off with little to no space. Just butter coming off curls or pulling up. Watching highlights is art at its finest.
2. Ray Allen, see Reggie Miller's explanation. Not quite as good as Reggie in my opinion but almost. Text book shot that went in whenever open.
3. Nash, to me he is another top 5 shooter and like all the greats ive mentioned he can shoot from almost anywhere. Just because he's known for 3s doesn't mean he didn't make his 2s

(I hate leaving out Gilbert Arenas and Michael Redd among others)

2010 to present:
1. Kyle Korver, open look means made bucket.
2. Steph Curry, he's the best shooter ever. I just forgot to put him first.
3. CP3, butter mid range, see Sam Cassell

(I love you Klay and CJ Mcollum)

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[CodeBreaker]

2010s: Durant, CP3, Kawhi