Passing Pippen: Hinrich moves up the Bulls all-time three-point list

Quick…. Name the top two three-point shooters in Chicago Bulls history.

Easy, right? Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

Not quite.

Oh, wait, that’s right, Jordan didn’t really shoot all that many threes. So it’s gotta be Pippen and someone like Craig Hodges or Steve Kerr or John Paxson.

All good guesses. Still not even close to right.

Would you believe that, thanks to a solid week last week in which he hit seven three-pointers, former Jayhawk Kirk Hinrich is actually one half of that dynamic duo.

Hinrich, who entered the season in second place on the list — behind Pippen — but quickly dropped to third when teammate Ben Gordon roared past them both during the first half of the NBA season, finally climbed above Scottie with his five three-pointers against Milwaukee last week.

Hinrich added two more for good measure the rest of the week and nailed two more in a victory Wednesday night and now sits alone in second place on the Bulls all-time list.

Ben Gordon 722
Kirk Hinrich 673
Scottie Pippen 664
Michael Jordan 555

Looks kind of strange, doesn’t it?

But it’s not all that surprising. After all, Hinrich ranks third on KU’s all-time list of three-pointers made (236) and fourth on the Jayhawks all-time list of highest three-point percentage at 43.2 percent (236 for 546). He’s also first on the single season list of highest three-point field goal percentages. During the 2000-2001 season, Hinrich hit 55 of 109 triples, good for a mark of 50.5 percent.

What’s more, throughout college, he often showed that his range extended well beyond the college three-point line.

When he reached the pro ranks, that range became a weapon against the insanely quick, fast and athletic guards that he was forced to face every night.

Last week, as the NBA’s trade deadline expired, Hinrich was nearly traded by the Bulls a few times. With Gordon and Derrick Rose holding down the starting spots in Chicago’s backcourt, it looks likely that Hinrich’s time in Chi-Town could be nearing its end.

But not before he left his mark on the franchise, passing Pippen and MJ — two of the league’s 50 greatest of all-time — on the team’s all-time three-point shooting list. Just in time, too. This Sunday, when KU hosts Mizzou, Hinrich will be on hand to watch his No. 10 jersey be retired to the rafters at Allen Fieldhouse.

Something tells me Hinrich will be a sought-after commodity this summer.