OAKLAND — Stephen Curry has reached the point in his career where he doesn’t know he’s breaking records.
That applied in Golden State’s 116-102 win over the visiting Denver Nuggets Tuesday night. With a step-back 28-foot three-pointer in the third quarter, Curry fittingly passed Chris Mullin, with 16,236 points, for fourth all-time on the Warriors’ scoring list.
During the following timeout, a graphic of Curry’s accomplishment was displayed on the video board. Curry, smiling, looked up at the board, seemingly surprised with the achievement.
That’s because he didn’t know about it, he admitted postgame.
“It kind of caught me off guard, but it was a pretty special night,” Curry said. “I understand what Chris Mullin was able to do in his career wearing a Warriors uniform, representing the organization, the Bay Area. His jersey is in the rafters obviously for a reason. (It was a) pretty cool moment. I will hopefully talk to him or see him at some point, and we will share a good moment.”
Throughout recent weeks, Curry has honored the legends of Oracle Arena in its final year of existence by donning numerous jerseys of former players before and after games. The two-time NBA MVP calls the gesture, “Operation GOAT.”
So, it’s no surprise Curry reveled in surpassing Mullin, a Warriors legend. Mullin played 13 of his 16 NBA seasons with the Warriors from 1985 to 1997. He rejoined Golden State during the 2000-01 season and played the final 20 games of his career with the organization with which he is synonymous. He was a five-time NBA All-Star, two-time All-NBA first-team selection, and a member of the famed Dream Team.
“Having played against Mullin a long time and remembering just how many points he scored, passing him is a pretty big deal,” Steve Kerr said. “That’s a lot of points and just one of many records Steph is going to set here with our franchise.”
Curry, already arguably the greatest Warrior of all-time, has made the third-most three-pointers in NBA history. He needs 96 more before reaching Reggie Miller, who holds the No. 2 spot. Curry is 509 makes from Ray Allen’s mark, which will probably require more than one season, but fewer than two, should Curry continue his current pace and stay healthy.
Soon, Curry will become the Warriors franchise’s third all-time leading scorer, a title that currently belongs to Paul Arizin. Curry needs just 31 points to pass Arizin. Next on the list is Rick Barry, who is 211 points ahead of Curry, meaning he will likely be the No. 2 scorer in franchise history at the conclusion of the current season. Curry will have to wait another year to take the No. 1 spot — he needs 1,543 points to surpass Wilt Chamberlain.