Stephen Curry's most iconic shots

Stephen Curry certainly knows how to shoot the ball, and that has led to a number of iconic shots throughout his basketball career. Curry is now widely regarded as the best shooter in NBA history. The point guard hasn't only made memorable shots during his time with the Golden State Warriors, though. Curry also had a legendary collegiate career which included some fantastic shots during his time at Davidson.

Now, Curry has claim to another iconic shot at a different stage. In the final minute of the gold medal game against France in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Curry hit an unbelievably difficult shot from three-point land over two French defenders. The jaw-dropping shot that led to another Team USA gold proved to be the dagger and put a cap on an iconic Olympics run by Curry.

In this article, we are going to rank Stephen Curry's most iconic shots ever to see where the Olympic dagger ranks all-time. With unmatched three-point range, a quick trigger, and an underrated clutch gene, there are countless Curry shots that would top most player's career highlight reels. We narrowed this list down to the five best, though, so check out the gallery below.

1. Game-winner against the Thunder

En route to becoming the all-time leading three-point shooter, Stephen Curry has connected on countless highlight worthy long-range bombs. His best ever happened in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 27, 2016.

Curry, who already had 11 three-point makes in this game, dribbled the ball up with only a couple of seconds left in a 118-118 tie ball game. The Thunder's Andre Roberson picked him up past the half-court line. At the time, Roberson was viewed as one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA.

That didn't matter though, as Curry fired up a shot from 32 feet away right before time expired, and he nailed it. The buzzer-beater won the game for Golden State and established Curry as one of the best three-point shooters in NBA history, a title he now has full control over. The shot even deserved a double-banger play-by-play call from Mike Breen.

This shot encompassed everything great about Curry's shooting ability. It came from well beyond the three-point arc, it was a clutch game-winning shot, and it came against a bitter rival. The game-winner against the Thunder not only went down as Curry's most iconic shot ever but one of the best plays in NBA history by anybody.

2. Corner three sends game to overtime against the Pelicans

Stephen Curry doesn't make all of his shots, but he tends to make the ones that matter. That was the case on April 23, 2015 in a first-round postseason matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans. Golden State was up 2-0 in the series against New Orleans, but they trailed the Pelicans by three points in the final seconds of regulation in Game 3.

The Warriors were inbounding the ball and needed a three to force overtime. Of course, Curry was the man they trusted with the shot. After receiving the inbound pass, Curry ran to the corner, pump-faked the defense, and then hoisted up a shot. Surprisingly, he missed the would-be game-tying shot.

Luckily, Marreese Speights secured the rebound and passed it out to Curry for a second chance at becoming a hero. Curry rarely misses twice, and he nailed this corner three-pointer just before the time ran out. Curry's shot came over the outstretched arms of Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans, the former of whom was one of the best defensive players in the league.

Curry took a bump (although no foul was called), making the made shot even more impressive, and the game went to overtime. The Warriors would go on to win Game 3 and eventually sweep the series. Although Curry was a star by the point, he hadn't previously had a ton of postseason success, so this shot truly announced his presence to the rest of the basketball world as the biggest thing in basketball.

3. Dribble-combination move against the Clippers

Stephen Curry is not only a legendary shooter, but he also has one of the best handles in NBA history. He put both skillsets on display against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 8, 2015. In the third quarter of that game, Curry utilized a dribble combination that you would normally only see in a Harlem Globetrotters game.

Curry used an Andre Bogut screen to split two defenders. He then dribbled between his legs and went directly to a behind the back dribble. As two more Los Angeles defenders approached, Curry retreated to the three-point line and hit a step-back three-point fadeaway.

It was an incredibly skilled play that would likely have resulted in disaster if it had been anybody besides Curry who had the ball. Warriors coach Steve Kerr raised his arms in frustration at first, as the four-on-one move seemed like a bone-headed decision. Kerr had no choice but to smile after Curry nailed it, though. Jeff Van Gundy announced from the broadcast table that it was “the greatest move I've ever seen.”

4. Olympic dagger against France

Stephen Curry is arguably the best point guard in NBA history. Basketball is growing, though, and it is becoming much more of a global game. Curry has now proved himself on the international stage as well. Curry started at the point guard position in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Team USA.

While he sacrificed for the greater good in the United States first few games, the superstar turned things up a few notches in the team's final two games. In the semifinals, Curry scored 36 points and made nine threes in what was one of the best individual performances in Team USA history. Curry followed that up with an equally impressive performance in the gold medal game against France.

Curry notched 24 more points and knocked down eight more threes. The point guard was incredibly clutch during this performance, too. He scored seven of the team's last 11 points and had four three-point makes in less than the final three minutes of game time. The biggest of those threes was a dagger with 35 seconds left in the game.

Curry took on a double team against two NBA players, Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum, but his shot from deep was still able to find the bottom of the net. It was a high-difficulty shot that sealed the game and Curry's legend status in Olympic history.

5. Three-quarter court heave against the Grizzlies

Stephen Curry has forever been known for his range. The all-time NBA three-point leader revolutionized the game by shooting the ball from deeper distances than players before him would ever think to shoot from. He changed the philosophy around on what a bad shot is.

On May 15, 2015, Curry took his ability to connect on deep shots to a whole new level. In a second-round matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies, time was set to expire in the third quarter. The Grizzlies' Jeff Green attempted a last second shot, but it was blocked by Andre Iguodala. Curry grabbed the loose ball and hucked it from three-quarter court, and amazingly, it went in.

While a shot from this deep seems like pure luck at first glance, NBA fans know that Curry practices (and consistently makes) shots from well beyond the half-court line. This 62-foot make really shouldn't come as a huge surprise.

The extremely long-ranged make led to a Warriors victory that advanced them to the next round. Curry would eventually go on to lead his team to an NBA Finals victory, the first of four during his tenure in Golden State.