The next king of the three-point line is probably an eighth grader playing for his middle school team with a low launch level and tiny shooting percentage. Golden State Warriors marksman Stephen Curry was once one of those kids.

Now he is the king of downtown shooting.

After passing Ray Allen the other night by hitting his three-point shot 2,974 against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The record will be broken again because Curry changed the game on the black top, which assures his successor is on the horizon.

Curry was motivated by previous record holders Reggie Miller and Allen. In turn, Curry has motivated some nameless kid somewhere on this globe. This kid must develop the same passion, work ethic, and confidence as Curry. But it will happen.

Legends motivate others.

How many ballers mimicked the full court no-look passes of Magic Johnson?

How many hoopers wanted to be like Mike?

Somewhere some kid believes he will be the next Kevin Durant or LeBron James. And, of course, there are thousands of kids heaving three-point shots from well beyond the arc. One of them will connect enough times and shatter Curry’s record.

“I can’t tell you how many shots I’ve take in my life,” Curry said. “It all started with the love of the game.”

Stephen Curry not only loved the game, but he changed the game.

Has he ruined the game? Everybody wants to drain the three. Often people taking those shots have no business attempting them. But I would not say Curry has ruined basketball just because so many who are unqualified to do so, immolate him. The game is just different now – not better or worse.

Back in the day, ballers wanted to penetrate the lane and gang-bangg the rim. It was a show of power and quickness. And then Magic added a little finesse and dipsy doo. LeBron and MJ added power back into the game.

Now Steph has helped change the game into something I never would have recognized as a kid. Many of the old heads are offended by what they see on the court. I am not one of them. When you break down, the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry, you still see a lot of passing and team work.

“I never did this to change the game,” Curry said. “This is just the way I play. I did not just wake up shooting the ball. You’ve got to put in the time.”

Curry also had a great teacher. His dad, Dell Curry, was a deadly marksman from deep also. He passed his knowledge on to his son, who grew even bigger than the dad. Del also went up against other great shooters like Larry Bird, Dale Ellis, and Chris Mullin.

Stephen Curry is the world’s greatest shooter. Mullin had the sweetest stroke.

“I’ve got supreme confidence in shooting the ball,” Curry said. “If I am shooting the shot I feel that I’m going to make it every single time.”

Of course, none of us are perfect. Curry is an amazing 40 percent career shooter, which means he misses 60 percent of the shots he takes.

So if you know of a young gun who is launching three-point shots on the black top, please tell them to ignore the old heads and keep shooting. In the end, one of these shooters is going to be the next Steph Curry.

Why not you?

Follow Terry Foster on Twitter at TerryFosterDet.