News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. Feb. 13, 2020: The cream always rises to the top. This popular idiom is often used to suggest that quality people never go unnoticed for too long – just like cream will usually always rise to the top of a cup of coffee or tea. It’s an idiom that perfectly describes the NBA fortunes of Bahamian basketball star, Buddy Hield, who is enjoying a record-breaking career in the United States.
During the recent 122-102 win for the Sacramento Kings against the San Antonio Spurs, nine magnificent 3-pointers for Buddy Hield meant that he’d achieved a new record. Having reached a career total of 802 with his efforts in that game, the 27-year-old from Freeport in the Bahamas became the fastest player in NBA history to score 800 3-pointers.
The previous holder of that record was 31-year-old Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors icon who has been setting the pace for 3-pointers throughout his career. However, as NBC Sports reporters have noted, the 3x NBA Champion and 6x NBA All-Star will now be looking over his shoulder, because every time Stephen Curry sets another 3-point record, Buddy Hield will be there to break it.
At the age of 27, it’s fair to say that Buddy Hield has a slight age advantage in his favour, which means plenty of time to continue on track to becoming the greatest NBA 3-point maker of all time. In April of last year, he also broke Damian Lillard’s record for most 3-pointers made in a player’s first three NBA seasons. More records are sure to follow and even more impressive, he’s achieving these feats while playing for a struggling team.
The Sacramento Kings haven’t won a Championship or Conference title since way back in 1951 as the Rochester Royals. As the current franchise, they haven’t won a Divisional title since 2003. The Kings haven’t even reached the Playoffs for 13 years and with long-shot NBA betting odds of +30000 for the Championship this season, they’re rank outsiders to even get a crack at the title.
Finishing 9th overall last season in the NBA League rankings was the best the Kings have managed to achieve for more than a decade. There’s not doubt that Buddy Hield played a large part in that overall improvement, thanks to his remarkable 3-point making ability and playing all 82 games of the regular season.
However, for most of the current season, Buddy Hield’s playing role with the Sacramento Kings has become a huge topic of debate, with current head coach Luke Walton coming under fire and even benching the player. Instead of letting the Bahaman 3-point expert focus on his shooting strengths, the head coach has been tying his star player down with defensive duties, which aren’t the best element of his game.
Despite what is clearly a frustrating situation for the player and his team, Buddy Hield remains one of the very best 3-point makers in the NBA, with only James Harden and Damian Lillard just ahead for three-pointers made in the 2019-20 regular season. The key difference is those two superstars are playing for teams who are nailed-on to reach the Playoffs this year.
While he only signed a lucrative new $100 million 4-year contract extension last summer, it’s fair to say that Buddy Hield could reach a whole new level with a better team. His ability is unquestionable, which means that at the end of the current season, a team with better playoff prospects could come calling for his services, keen to make use of his amazing talent for hitting the hoop from range.
