Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Difference Between A Shooter And Scorer In The NBA

I think a lot of NBA fans need to understand the difference between a shooter and a scorer when ranking or comparing players offensively.

Firstly, let’s make something VERY clear. When judging a player offensively, it means so much more than just putting the ball in the basket. Their ability to facilitate, make others better, giving up good shots for great shots, finishing around the basket, efficiency, getting to the free throw line, the variety of ways in which they can score etc etc etc is all apart of it. It’s much much more than just putting the ball through the net.

Now, in terms of offense, there is a distinct difference between players that are predominately shooters that can score very well, and scorers that can shoot very well.

For example:
– Klay Thompson, predominately a shooter who can score very well.

VS.

– James Harden, prodominately a scorer who can shoot the ball very well.

– Stephen Curry, predominately a shooter who can score the ball very well.

VS.

– Kyrie Irving, predominately a scorer who can shoot the ball very well.

These are just some examples of how NBA fans can disagree or argue on who’d they prefer offensively for their team when they don’t take into account the players biggest strength and in respect to their respective systems.
Klay Thompson flourishes in a Golden State system that relies on his shooting and spacing and has now developed into a player who is capable of getting his own but has found great difficulty in the past to absolutely carry a team and offense like James Harden. Harden can more than get his own, get to the free throw line and put up massive numbers. But on the other hand, Harden wouldn’t flourish in a Klay Thompson type of shooting/spacing task in Golden State which we saw glimpses of when he played in Oklahoma City despite winning 6th Man of the Year.

Despite them both being brilliant offensive players. NBA fans must recognize the difference in what makes them both excellent ball players. There is a distinct difference between shoot first and score first players, thus, comparing them offensively becomes increasingly more difficult.