There were times early in Joe Ingles’ NBA career when his coaches and teammates had to encourage him to shoot when he was open.
The end result?
The No. 1 3-point shooter in Utah Jazz history.
On Friday night, Ingles made his 846th 3-point bucket, passing Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton (845) for the most 3-point makes in franchise history. Ingles hit his first triple of the night midway through the first quarter. A moment later, Ingles used a screen to get open for his historic bucket. He raised his arms in celebration as his teammates cheered him on.
He did it pic.twitter.com/KeCuLi9GIx
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 30, 2021
Ingles may not lack confidence in his shot now, but even he is a bit surprised to find himself ahead of the Jazz’s legendary point guard on that list now.
“If you told me back then there would be a chance I would break any of those guys’ records, Karl [Malone] and John and those guys that are huge to this organization, I definitely would have laughed in your face,” Ingles said Friday with the record in striking distance. “To be anywhere close to it and have a chance to take it over … I don’t really know what to think too much about it.”
Stockton, a 38.4-percent 3-point shooter over the course of his illustrious 19-year career, also owns the franchise record for most triples attempted (2,203). Ingles is a career 40.8-percent shooter from deep and entered Friday night with 2,067 total attempts.
“It’s just great to see Joe get some individual accomplishments because I think of things about Joe go unsaid or unnoticed,” Jazz forward Georges Niang said. “His value to this team is tremendous. For him to get some personal accolades is tremendous. I’m super happy for him.”
Ingles set himself up for a historic night by making seven of his 11 attempts from deep against Dallas on Wednesday. Stockton only ever attempted seven 3-pointers in a single game twice in his career. In an area that relied more on post-ups and mid-range jumpers, Stockton never attempted more than 2.8 triples per game in any one season. This season Ingles is averaging 5.4 shots per game behind the arc — though his teammates would still like him to shoot more.
“Joe is always looking for others before he looks for himself,” center Rudy Gobert said. “There aren’t many players in the league that you have to remind to shoot the ball. I just keep telling Joe every single time, look for you first and then look for your teammates.”
Ingles stayed true to form in that regard when asked about the team’s 3-point record Friday.
“I’ll take it … until Donovan gets hot and takes it over from me,” Ingles said.
Donovan Mitchell sits at No. 4 on the Jazz’s all-time leaderboard in 3-point makes (1,689).
Joe Ingles has just passed John Stockton for most 3-pointers made in franchise history.
Congratulations, @joeingles7 pic.twitter.com/CRkfIMvP2Z
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 30, 2021
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