Indiana Pacers: 15 greatest shooters of all time

You had to know that the guy nicknamed “The Rifleman” would make this list. Drafted fourth overall in the 1986 draft, Chuck Person spent his first six seasons with the Pacers and immediately established himself as a legitimate scoring threat. Overall, there was a lot to like about his game. He was a solid rebounder, could facilitate for his teammates when necessary and he could get buckets.

But we aren’t here to talk about all of that. We are here to focus on Person’s performance from beyond the 3-point line. It seems like he did pretty well for himself in that regard, as he ranks sixth on the Pacers all-time 3-point leaderboard.

During his time in Indy, Person shot an even 35 percent from deep, including two seasons where he shot 37 percent (1989-90 and 1991-92). During that six-year window, the NBA 3-point league average sat between 30.1 and 33.1 percent, so Person was quite skilled at knocking them down when taking the era into account.

I mean, the average NBA team in 1991-92 took 7.6 threes per game. To put that figure in perspective, Stephen Curry attempted 9.8 threes per game on his own. It was a different time.

Person would easily fit into today’s game. A 6-foot-8 swingman that can stretch the floor and make plays with the ball is quite enticing to a lot of teams. Person’s 3-point ability would have been the icing on the cake. His ability to hit spot-up and pull-up threes would have made him very difficult to defend. But much like Keller, Person’s numbers were a product of his time.