As the old adage goes, the 3-pointer is the great equalizer. No matter how much of a talent gap your team is facing, they can give themselves a chance by getting red-hot from downtown. It’s that logic that makes it so a whole game can be won and lost because of shooting variance (see our March clash against the Los Angeles Lakers).
With the importance of the 3-pointer established, who is the all-time leader in 3-pointers made in New Orleans Pelicans (and Hornets) history? Keep in mind we are talking strictly about their time with the organization. So, for this exercise, the rest of their career does not get included.
Anyway, with that squared away, here are the top ten Pelicans (and Hornets) in 3-pointers made:
New Orleans Pelicans All-Time Leaders in 3-Pointers Made (number of threes made)*
1. Jrue Holiday (628)
2. Peja Stojakovic (553)
3. Ryan Anderson (533)
4. Brandon Ingram (431)
5. Eric Gordon (421)
6. Rasual Butler (421)
7. Chris Paul (379)
8. E’Twaun Moore (344)
9. Baron Davis (330)
10. Darius Miller (327)
*Data Provided by Stat Muse
A couple of interesting takeaways from looking at this list. First, despite spending only four years and some change with the organization (and those years coming at the back end of his career), it is cool to see Peja Stojakovic rank so highly on the Pelicans’ all-time leaderboards. Fun fact: this isn’t the only team he ranks second all-time in 3-pointers made for his career with them. He’s also second all-time on the Sacramento Kings’ all-time list (1,070 threes made), trailing only Buddy Hield in that category.
Second, it is a testament to how far he’s come as a shooter that Brandon Ingram is already so high up on the team’s all-time leaderboards. During his time with the Lakers, Ingram shot just 32.9% on two 3-point attempts per game. But after some work with renowned shooting coach Fred Vinson, he’s been a 37.5% shooter on 5.2 3-point attempts per game during his time with New Orleans. If he remains with the team, it is likely that he becomes number one on this list in the next couple of seasons.
Lastly, one must admit that it is kind of refreshing to see a list like this that isn’t dominated by The Point God Chris Paul. Although, if he had been allowed to take more threes during his time with the team, he certainly would be much higher on this list!