Wesley Matthews has defied logic and the odds his whole basketball life and on Sunday evening, he did something no other human being can claim.
With his second 3-pointer against the Toronto Raptors, Matthews reached the 1,500 plateau for 3-pointers made in his career.
He’s the only undrafted player in NBA history to reach that milestone.
Matthews, 32, also is the sixth-fastest player to 1,500 trifectas in NBA history. He did it in 698 career games. Steph Curry in 476, Klay Thompson in 517, James Harden in 643, Ray Allen in 661 and Peja Stojakovic in 678 are the only ones to do it in fewer games.
Those five all were top-15 picks in their respective drafts.
Matthews went undrafted in 2009 and has gone on to carve out a strong career as a 3-and-D specialist for a decade.
“Wes Matthews has had an amazing career if you look at the fact that he was undrafted,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “That chip on his shoulder is really what’s propelled him in his career. Ever since his first year at Utah, and then he got signed by Portland, he’s been a terrific two-way player ever since. And he’s been that for us, too.”
Matthews is averaging 13 points and shooting 37.8 percent from 3-point range this season, a shade higher than his four-year average with the Mavericks.
Matthews is the 31st player to reach 1,500. All the others were draftees. Dirk Nowitzki is 11th on the all-time list with 1,930 3-pointers.
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