By the time Stephen Curry had reduced the Cleveland Cavaliers to a smoking ruin Sunday night, canning an NBA Finals-record nine 3-pointers, it seemed this particular status had always been quo.
It has not.
Long before Curry pulled on a Warriors jersey, there was Joe Hassett. Before the 3-point shot changed everything about the NBA, there was fear, if not loathing, of what NBA coaches dismissed as a legacy gimmick from the late, great American Basketball Association.
Seriously.
Hassett? He was an interesting study who showed up at a unique time in the NBA. A sharp-shooting guard, he averaged 14.