NBA's 3-ball explosion: Exploring 6 milestones that led to Stephen Curry’s 402 3-pointers in 2016 from Brian Taylor's 90 triples in 1980 

#4 Dennis Scott makes 267 three-pointers in the 1995-96 NBA season

Forward Dennis Scott of the Orlando Magic shoots the bal

The season after Dan Majerle knocked down 192 threes, the NBA instituted a shortened three-point line for three seasons between 1994 and 1997 to combat a decrease in scoring. The line went from being 23 feet, 9 inches (22 feet at the corners), to a standard 22 feet all around the basket. As a result, there was an immediate surge in three-point scoring. John Starks led the league in 1994-95 with 217 triples. Reggie Miller made 229 threes two seasons later in 1996-97.

But the real star of the NBA’s shortened three-point line was Orlando’s Dennis Scott aka 3-D. Scott hit 267 triples in 1995-96. He was closely followed by Dallas forward George McCloud, who knocked down 257 threes in the same season.

Although a shortened 3-point line led to more 3-point shot attempts, it further led to a dip in scoring. The league, consequently, pushed the three-point line back to its original distance of 23 feet, 9 inches (22 feet at the corners) after the 1996-97 season.

#5 Ray Allen runs amok, nailing 269 threes in the 2005-06 NBA season

The next big splash as far as individual record-setting from the three-point line is concerned was when Ray Allen, the all-time leader in three-point shooting, broke the 250 mark with the three-point line being back at its original length.

Allen, who played for Seattle in 2005-06, made 269 triples that season, a figure nearly thrice as many made by Brian Taylor in the 1979-80 NBA season.

Allen sank his three-pointers that season with a 41.2% efficiency. An additional interesting stat that Goldsberry gives in his book about Allen’s then historic season is that “of Allen’s 269 threes, 202 were assisted [75.1%] and only 67 were unassisted.”

#6Stephen Curry annihilates the 400 mark in the 2015-16 NBA season

Finally, we get to Wardell Stephen Curry II. Curry had already improved Allen’s 2005-06 mark by sinking 272 triples in 2012-13 and 286 of the same in 2014-15. Curry then took a sledgehammer and absolutely smashed the single-season three-pointer record when he knocked down 402 threes in his unanimous MVP season in 2015-16.

In doing this, not only did Curry become the first player to obliterate the 400 mark (a record that stands to this day), he improved the three-point mark for a single season by a whopping 116 triples in one go. That is the single biggest jump made by any of the names on this list over the previous single season record.

An interesting trend to observe over here is that since the 1995-96 season, significant jumps have been happening in three-point shooting every 10 years. From Dennis Scott in 1995-96, to Ray Allen in 2005-06, to Steph Curry in 2015-16. We better watch out for the 2025-26 season in that case!

---