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Keith Allison, Ray Allen dribble, CC BY-SA 2.0
Flickr user Philadelphia 76ers, Reggie Miller crop, CC BY-SA 2.0
In today’s modern NBA game, especially with the use of analytics, the three-pointer is becoming increasingly popular. At the forefront of this new era of sharpshooters is point guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors; having already set a number of single-season three-point shooting records, Curry has moved quickly up the list of career three-point shooting and is likely to be regarded as the greatest shooter (not player, or even scorer – there is an important distinction there) in NBA history when all is said and done. However, prior to Curry’s emergence, the two men most commonly associated with the unofficial title of best shooter in NBA history were Hall of Fame shooting guards Ray Allen and Reggie Miller. As the current record-holder and second place, respectively, for career three-pointers made and with the focus on the three-ball today, the question is:
Who was better – Ray Allen or Reggie Miller?
The Beginning
Both Allen and Miller were noted sharpshooters coming out of college, and were able to parlay that shooting prowess into first round draft selections; however, unlike some first round picks and future Hall of Famers that come into the NBA and dominate immediately, it would take a few years for each player to establish himself as a star.
As a member of the University of Connecticut team from 1993 to 1996, Allen was named USA Basketball’s Male Athlete of the Year in 1995, and then proceeded to have a breakout junior year in which he was named First-Team All-American, Big East Player of the Year, and set a single season record for three pointers made. As a result, he was drafted fifth overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, but traded immediately along with Andrew Lang to the Milwaukee Bucks for fourth overall pick Stephon Marbury (who would go on to have a productive NBA career with multiple teams before going overseas and becoming a legend in the Chinese Basketball Association). In his rookie season with the Bucks, Allen averaged 13.4 points per game on 43.0% shooting, including 117 three-pointers made on 39.3% shooting, and made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. The next year, he would improve upon his numbers almost across the board, including averaging 19.5 points per game on 42.8% shooting with 134 threes made (albeit on “only” 36.4% shooting).
Meanwhile, Miller grew up in a highly athletic family (his sister Cheryl is a Hall of Fame basketball player in her own right, while brother Darrell played baseball in the major leagues and sister Tammy played college volleyball) and played his college ball at UCLA. After an NIT title as a sophomore, he was a 2x All-Pac 10 selection and as a senior, led the Bruins to both the Pac-10 regular season and conference championships. With the three-pointer only being introduced to the college game starting in 1986-1987, Miller would make 69 threes that first year, which accounted for nearly 30% of his made baskets. Following his illustrious college career, Miller was selected 11th overall in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers, and was a steady role player in his first two years – as a rookie, he averaged 10.0 points per game on 48.8% shooting, which jumped to 16.0 points per game on 47.9% shooting in his second year. This would set the stage for a long career with the Pacers, in which Miller would become the face of the franchise.
Career Comparison
While both Allen and Miller spent a couple of seasons acclimating to the NBA and being steady contributors but not superstars, each player would break out and enter their respective primes shortly thereafter – whether it be Miller in the 1990s or Allen in the 2000s, both would arguably become the most feared shooter of their heyday.
After inking the largest contract in Bucks history at the time, Allen made his first All-Star team in 1999-2000, averaging 22.1 points per game on 45.5% shooting with 172 three-pointers made on 42.3% shooting. That would mark the first of three straight All-Star appearances, including an All-NBA Third Team appearance in 2000-2001, when he averaged 22.0 points per game on 48.0% shooting, including 202 threes (43.3% shooting). However, despite a formidable trio that also included All-Star caliber players Sam Cassell and Glenn Robinson, sustained playoff success was elusive for the Bucks; as a result, midway through the 2002-2003 season, Allen was part of a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) along with Ronald Murray, former UConn teammate Kevin Ollie, and a conditional first round pick for Desmond Mason and future Hall of Famer and Sonics legend Gary Payton. Overall, in seven seasons with Milwaukee, Allen averaged 19.6 points per game on 45.0% shooting with 2.1 threes made on 40.6% shooting.
In Seattle, Allen would team with fellow All-Star Rashard Lewis and enjoy some of the best statistical seasons of his career, including five straight years averaging 23+ points per game and four straight All-Star appearances. Arguably his best season came in 2004-2005 when he was named All-NBA Second Team and averaged 23.9 points per game on 42.8% shooting with 209 three-pointers made (37.6% shooting). Once again, despite Allen’s high-scoring ways, the Sonics did not enjoy team success and in 2007, traded Allen and 35th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft Glenn Davis to the Boston Celtics for Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, and fifth overall pick in the draft Jeff Green. During his stint as a SuperSonic, Allen would average 24.6 points per game on 44.0% shooting with 2.9 threes on 38.6% shooting.
In forming a “Big Three” with fellow All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, Allen would sacrifice his personal stats for team success, trading a higher scoring average for better efficiency – while he never averaged more than 18.2 points per game in five seasons with Boston, he shot a career-high 49.1% in 2010-2011 and was nevertheless recognized to the All-Star team three times. Allen’s Boston averages included 16.7 points per game on 47.2% shooting with 2.2 threes on 40.9% shooting. Following a successful run with the Celtics, Allen would spend two final seasons as a role player with the Miami Heat alongside the new “Big Three” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh before retiring at age 38.
As for Miller, he would break-out in the 1989-1990 season, averaging 24.6 points per game on a highly efficient 51.4% shooting and making 150 three-pointers on 41.4% shooting – this would mark the first of five All-Star Game appearances and four straight 20+ point per game seasons, including three seasons above 50% shooting and a career-high 57 points on November 28, 1992 vs. the Charlotte Hornets (still a Pacers team record). After Indiana traded away star forward Chuck Person in 1992, Miller would become the unquestioned leader and star of the team.
In his prime, Miller was the epitome of consistency – following the four straight 20+ point per game seasons from 1989-1990 to 1992-1993, he would average at least 18 points per game for each of the next eight seasons. During the 1993-1994 season, Miller averaged 19.9 points per game on 50.3% shooting, made 123 three-pointers on 42.1% shooting, and also converted 90.8% of his free throws, thus becoming only the third player in NBA history to have a 50-40-90 season (i.e. 50% field goal percentage/40% three-point percentage/90% free throw percentage, following in the footsteps of Larry Bird and Mark Price). Then, for another four-year stretch from 1994-1995 to 1997-1998, he was both a 3x All-Star and a 3x All-NBA Third Team selection; in each of this seasons, Miller averaged at least 19.5 points per game and made at least 160 three-pointers, including a career-high 229 in 1996-1997, which somewhat ironically was the one season he was not an All-Star or All-NBA. As he entered his mid-to-late 30s, Miller took on an elder statesmen role with the Pacers, though still remained an effective shooter while deferring more to younger teammates like Jermaine O’Neal and Ron Artest; by the time he retired at age 39 following the 2004-2005 season, he had spent all of his 18 seasons with the Pacers, a streak matched in recent times by only a few players (Kobe Bryant with the Lakers, Dirk Nowitzki with the Mavericks, and Tim Duncan with the Spurs come to mind).
In comparing their long and illustrious careers against each other (18 seasons each), Allen comes out slightly ahead of Miller in most of the key regular season categories: higher points per game (18.9 to 18.2), three-pointers made (2,973 to 2,560), three-point shooting percentage (40.0% to 39.5%), free throw percentage, rebounds, and assists, though Miller has a noticeable edge in field goal percentage (47.1% to 45.2%). For awards and accolades, Allen has more All-Star Game selections (10x to 5x), but Miller has the edge in All-NBA Team nods (3x to 2x). Moreover, in looking at the advanced metrics, there is also a dichotomy – Allen has the higher Player Efficiency Rating (PER), but Miller accounted for more Win-Shares (perhaps illustrating how important he was to the Pacers both offensively and defensively). By any metric, both players are clear Hall of Famers and were soon inducted after retiring (Miller – 2012, Allen – 2018).
Regular Season Statistics
| Ray Allen | Player | Reggie Miller |
| 18 (1996-2014) | Seasons | 18 (1987-2005) |
| 1,300 | Games Played | 1,389 |
| 18.9 | Points | 18.2 |
| 4.1 | Rebounds | 3.0 |
| 3.4 | Assists | 3.0 |
| 45.2% | Field Goal % | 47.1% |
| 2,973 | 3-Pointers | 2,560 |
| 40.0% | 3-Point % | 39.5% |
| 89.4% | Free Throw % | 88.8% |
| 18.6 | PER | 18.4 |
| 145.1 | Win Shares | 174.4 |
| 10x | All-Star Games | 5x |
| 2x | All-NBA | 3x |
| 2x | NBA Titles | – |
| All-Rookie | Other Awards | – |
| 2018 | Hall of Fame Induction | 2012 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Throughout their careers, Allen and Miller each appeared in the playoffs in more than half of their seasons, accumulating the equivalent of around two full regular seasons worth of playoff games. In most respects, Allen’s playoff averages are mostly slightly below his regular season stats, while Miller’s numbers exceed his regular season marks, particularly in scoring as well as on advanced metrics; some of this variation can be attributed to timing, as Allen’s most significant playoff experience happened in the latter part of his career vs. Miller while he was in his prime and leading the Pacers.
Overall, Allen played in the playoffs 11 times in his career, predominantly with the Celtics and Heat. As a member of the Bucks, his best run was in 2000-2001, when he averaged 25.1 points per game and led Milwaukee to the 2000-2001 Eastern Conference Finals, when they lost in seven games to the Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers. After only one playoff appearance in Seattle, Allen would make five straight playoff runs with the Celtics and win his first title in his first year together with Garnett and Pierce (2007-2008; Boston’s first title since the Larry Bird years), averaging 15.6 points per game in the process. Boston would return to the NBA Finals in 2009-2010, with Allen contributing 16.1 points per game, but lose to Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. In the twilight of his career and as a supporting player on the Heat in 2012-2013, Allen won his second NBA title as Miami beat the San Antonio Spurs in seven games; while he was clearly a role player and only averaged 10.2 points per game, one of his most memorable moments was hitting the game-tying three-pointer in the waning seconds of Game 6 to force the deciding Game 7.
As for Miller, the Pacers appeared in the playoffs 15 times during his 18 seasons, a testament to both personal and team consistency. In back-to-back seasons, he would lead the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to fall just short of the Finals. In the 1993-1994 season, Miller averaged 23.2 points per game and in a memorable Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the New York Knicks, scored 39 points, including 25 in the fourth quarter, while jawing with renowned Knicks fan Spike Lee to give Indiana a 3-2 lead, though they ultimately lost in seven games. The following season, Miller would get revenge and add another signature moment – in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. the Knicks again, he scored an incredible eight points in nine seconds to seal the victory and eventually beat New York in seven games; however, the Pacers would fall in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals once again, this time to Shaquille O’Neal and the upstart Orlando Magic, despite Miller’s 25.5 points per game during the playoffs. After many years of close calls, the Pacers finally made it to the NBA Finals in 1999-2000 (the only appearance in franchise history) by vanquishing their familiar foes the New York Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals, though fell in six games in the Finals to the Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers; Miller once again had a magnificent playoffs, averaging 24.0 points per game across all rounds.
Additionally, both players also represented Team USA on the international stage – Allen won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and also at the 2003 FIBA Americas Championship, while Miller was part of the “Dream Team” that took home gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and also won gold at the 1994 FIBA World Championships.
Playoff Statistics
| Ray Allen | Player | Reggie Miller |
| 171 | Games Played | 144 |
| 16.1 | Points | 20.6 |
| 3.8 | Rebounds | 2.9 |
| 2.6 | Assists | 2.5 |
| 44.3% | Field Goal % | 44.9% |
| 385 | 3-Pointers | 320 |
| 40.1% | 3-Point % | 39.0% |
| 88.3% | Free Throw % | 89.3% |
| 16.3 | PER | 19.5 |
| 18.0 | Win Shares | 19.9 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; Allen and Miller clearly follow this career arc, from budding star to All-Star/All-NBA player to elder statesman. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Ray Allen | Player | Reggie Miller |
| 1999-2009 | Decade of Dominance | 1989-1998, 1999-2000 |
| 728 | Games Played | 807 |
| 22.1 | Points | 20.9 |
| 4.4 | Rebounds | 3.2 |
| 3.8 | Assists | 3.2 |
| 45.2% | Field Goal % | 48.2% |
| 1,974 | 3-Pointers | 1,602 |
| 40.3% | 3-Point % | 40.7% |
| 90.0% | Free Throw % | 88.5% |
| 20.7 | PER | 19.7 |
| 96.0 | Win Shares | 114.7 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
While both players have better numbers almost across the board, in comparing the two, Allen still holds an edge in most key accumulation categories (points, rebounds, assists, and three-pointers made), though Miller has the better efficiency once again in shooting percentages and accounts for more Win-Shares. Either way, it is clear from looking at their respective decades of dominance how great Allen and Miller were at their peaks.
My Thoughts
When I think about Ray Allen and Reggie Miller, one of the biggest questions is “What if”? As in, what if Allen and Miller played in the current three-point happy NBA, how many more three-pointers would each have made? Allen’s career highs in three-pointers made and attempted were 269 and 653, respectively (both in 2005-2006), while Miller’s career highs were 229 and 536, respectively (1996-1997); as a point of comparison, during his unanimous 2015-2016 MVP season, Steph Curry made an incredible 402 three-pointers on 886 attempts! But as fun as it is to imagine, players are often a function of their eras and must be judged by what they were able to accomplish during that time frame. While Miller was the deadliest three-point shooter of the rugged 1990s and is remembered for his iconic moments and as the face of a franchise in a way that Allen is not (though the latter will be immortalized as Jesus Shuttlesworth in the iconic Spike Lee-directed basketball movie He Got Game), Allen was just a nose better for a tad longer in most respects; moreover, he was able to get over that final hump and win a ring (admittedly with a lot of help), which is something that managed to elude Miller over his long and illustrious career.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Ray Allen
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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