Why this game-winning Stephen Curry shot from out of bounds didn’t count

The greatest shooter of all-time threw in a shot on an inbounds pass with 0.2 seconds left of a tie game. Sadly, it didn’t count.

Stephen Curry hit one of the most remarkable shots of the NBA season on Thursday night. Too bad it didn’t count.

With the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers tied with just 0.2 seconds left in regulation, Steve Kerr drew up a play that had Curry as the inbounds passer from the left wing. Curry intended to throw an alley-oop to Andre Iguodala. Instead, he drained the shot.

The fact that Curry was able to hit that while Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic— listed at a cool 7-foot, 275 pounds — tried to smother the inbounds pass is downright amazing. This screenshot shows how impressive Curry’s make really was:

NBA.com

Sadly, the shot didn’t count, and the Blazers went on to beat the Warriors in overtime on a clutch three-pointer from Damian Lillard.

Why didn’t Curry’s shot count?

Curry’s shot didn’t count because he was the inbounds passer. The player inbounding the ball can’t legally score, no matter how impressive their shot is. It’s as simple as that.

The Warriors had to try for an alley-oop on this possession because of the Trent Tucker Rule, which states a team must have at least 0.3 seconds remaining on the clock to attempt a catch-and-shoot.

The Warriors’ only chance was to try for a tip-in. Curry’s pass went in, which resulted in a turnover. This is another way to put it:

Have we ever seen anything like Curry’s shot before?

Oh yes. During the 2015-16 season, Jae Crowder did one better: he hit a full-court heave that didn’t count because he was the inbounds passer:

Crowder’s shot would have been the longest in NBA history if it counted. Instead, Baron Davis holds that record from 94-feet. You can learn all about Davis’ shot in this episode of Pretty Good with Jon Bois: