The NBA adds a scoring rule that helps Curry

Steph Curry has never been afraid to take a shot that was too hard. He has made six last-second shots at the conclusion of the quarter in his career, but the Baby-Faced Assassin still shoots them, even though it hurts his shooting %. Now, the NBA is changing the rules for keeping score to reward players who take risks and make some of the league's most timid end-of-quarter shooters actually try to score.

At the end of the first three quarters, a player can make a "heave" by shooting the ball from beyond half-court with three seconds or less left on the clock. Some players don't mind taking long-range, low-percentage shots. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic led the NBA last season with 22 heaves, making two. But many more players pass up the shots or let the ball go a millisecond after the buzzer to avoid missing. Fans of the Golden State Warriors know that Steph Curry is not one of those players.

If you go back in time and apply the new rule to Curry's career, it doesn't change his three-point % too much. He goes from 42.3% for his career to 42.8%. This shows how well he does on heaves and how many three-pointers he makes.

We want to thank those heroes who weren't afraid to pray. In his career, Kobe Bryant tried 54 heaves and only made one. Carmelo Anthony, who is now in the Hall of Fame, never made a heave, although he did try 45 times. Vince Carter was 42 years old and yet eager to try three heaves, even though he only made two out of 52. He was the best team player. J.R. Smith tried 57 career heaves, which is a lot for a player who only started 40% of the time. Ricky Davis threw 37 times in 736 career games and really thought each one would go in (He did make one).

But we also want to call out the cowardly stars who let the clock run out, missing out on points to save their stats. My coworker told me to "Name 'em!" like Sutton Stracke from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Cowards Who Missed the NBA Buzzer

James Harden has thrown 18 times in 16 NBA seasons. He loves taking a lot of shots, whether he's on the court or at a strip club, but not if it would affect his stats.

Russell Westbrook has thrown 16 times in 17 seasons. And that was primarily before people started calling him "Westbrick" to show disrespect for his family.

Kevin Durant: 9 throws in 17 seasons. KD had the most field-goal attempts in the NBA in the 2009–10 and 2013–14 seasons. He only tried to make a buzzer-beater once in each of those seasons. He'll probably tweet me about this.

Kyrie Irving has thrown 17 heaves in 14 seasons. We think he watched a YouTube video that said heaves were part of a Deep State plot to decrease players' numbers. Or, like with immunizations, Irving merely skips doses he thinks he doesn't need.

22 throws in 21 seasons for Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki is 8th on the all-time record for field goal attempts. "Feigling" is the German term for coward.

LeBron James: In the beginning of his career, King James didn't mind taking a desperation shot. He made 31 of them in his first 8 seasons. But since his debut year with the Miami Heat, James has used his royal power to let the shot clock run out and only make six shots in 14 seasons. He is going to the box score with his skills!

The new regulation should make a lot of players start taking shots they normally wouldn't because it's now a statistically safe bet. However, at least one NBA analyst hates that the rule gives risk-averse stat-padders a free pass.

Zach Lowe is correct. At Golden State of Mind, we should praise Steph Curry even more than we already do. And Jordan Poole, who has already scored 23 points in his brief career and is well on his way to becoming a famous heaver, especially since he played with Curry. Even if this isn't really a heave, let's end this piece with seeing Poole go deep—though not heave-deep—on the Memphis Grizzlies in 2022.