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Former NBA sharpshooter Dennis Scott recently stirred up some controversy with his top five shooters of all time list, which had some notable omissions.
During an interview with Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina, Scott was asked to name his top five shooters ever, taking into account talent and era. As expected, he ranked Golden State Warriors superstar point guard Steph Curry No. 1.
“Obviously, Steph is No. 1 because he has always shown us all the way back to his Davidson highlights and his early years when his ankles were messed up,” Scott said. “It’s his movement. His movement always separated himself from all of us.”
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Scott added that NBA legends Ray Allen and Reggie Miller are interchangeable in second and third place. However, he then caught some off guard by going with himself at No. 4.
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“You can flip-flop Ray and Reggie at two and three,” Scott said. “I’m going to take four (laughs). I’m going to take the fourth spot.”
For his fifth pick, Scott took another unheralded shooter, former All-Star shooting guard Dale Ellis, over some of the league’s top modern-day shooters. He added that it was “no knock” on Milwaukee Bucks and LA Clippers star guards Damian Lillard and James Harden.
“I want to give Dale Ellis the fifth spot. People of this generation don’t understand how quick of a trigger he had and the range he had,” Scott said. “People feared Dale Ellis when he was at the height of his career with how he shot the basketball.”
Upon seeing Scott’s top five shooters list, many fans were quick to point out the omission of Warriors star shooting guard Klay Thompson.
“Klay needs to be there,” one fan said.
Likewise, others were frustrated to see Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird snubbed. However, Scott noted that Bird was “easily sixth” on his list.
“[If] Larry Bird played in today’s NBA, he would be right up there with Curry. The game was different when he played and 3-pointers weren’t taken as they are in today days game, but he needs to be on that list,” one fan said.
Meanwhile, others just straight up called out Scott for choosing himself.
“I’m not mad at putting yourself in there D. Scott, but you’re not in the top five,” one fan said.
Here are a few more of the top fan reactions to Dennis Scott’s top five shooters list:
Dennis Scott’s career 3-point shooting statistics
As for Dennis Scott’s case as a top-five shooter, most would agree that it relies more on efficiency than high volume.
Over 10 seasons, Scott shot 39.7% from deep on 4.9 3-point attempts per game, making an average of 1.9 3s per game. In total, he converted 1,214 3s over 629 games.
These stats are very comparable to many role players today. However, according to Scott, if he played in the modern-day NBA, his numbers would be much more impressive.
“We’re talking numbers that probably don’t make sense,” Scott said.
It’s impossible to know exactly how Scott would have fared in today’s NBA. However, one thing is clear, and that is that the former sharpshooter isn’t lacking any confidence.
