Even if it means sneaking out of bed hours past their bedtimes, the youngest generation aspires to be just like Steph Curry. (2:23)

As the Toronto Raptors hoisted the Larry O'Brien trophy in June, they put a punctuation mark at the end of a wild NBA decade.

The 2010s will go down as one of the league's most successful periods, and the decade will be remembered for a couple signature trends: the rise of 3-point shooting and analytics. Shooting skills have always been vital in the NBA, but they became paramount this past decade.

The league leaned heavily into analytically correct shot selections that promoted 3-point shooting while minimizing midrange looks, resulting in an awakening that has reformed pro hoops. Most of the biggest shots of the decade came from beyond the arc -- Ray Allen's dagger from the right corner, Kyrie Irving's Game 7 step-back. Before Stephen Curry won his first MVP in 2014-15, no NBA MVP had led the league in 3-point scoring. Now, three of the past five winners have.

This decade belonged to shooters, and these 10 were the very best. Although there's still no perfect metric to quantify shooting skill, the top shooters in the game are able to combine volume and efficiency in ways normal NBA players can't. These aren't simply the guys with the highest 3P%, eFG% or TS%. They created and converted thousands of difficult shots from all over the court at high rates.

In a decade obsessed with shooting efficiency, these fellas reformed the ways we look at scoring in pro basketball.

1. Stephen Curry

We have to start with Curry, arguably the best shooter the game has ever seen. In a decade that we'll remember for its 3-point awakening, Curry was the alarm clock.

Check this out:

By sinking 2,025 3s in the 2010s, James Harden ranked second in the NBA in made triples. Steph was No. 1 by a country mile, hitting 458 more 3s than Harden.

Curry's 3s were tough. No one has attempted more triples since 2013-14 -- the first year we have full player-tracking data via Second Spectrum -- and only four players took more difficult attempts when accounting for shot quality and defender distance. The gap between Curry's expected eFG (49.6%) and actual eFG (64.0%) on 3s is greater than any other player's.

That combination of perimeter volume and efficiency was simply unprecedented before Curry came along. But as Curry's stardom rose, the rest of the league took notes. He'll forever be associated with the dominant trends of this decade. His shot chart from the past 10 seasons shows a man who is very good at hurling airy leather orbs through metal rings from every angle.

Before the 2015-16 season, no NBA player had made more than 300 3s in a season -- not Larry Bird, not Reggie Miller, not Ray Allen, not Curry. That season, Steph went out and made 402, in large part because he unlocked the power of the unassisted 3-pointer. Curry's 2015-16 is probably the best shooting season ever. He became the only player in history to put up 50/40/90 numbers while scoring more than 30 PPG.

Long-range scoring was a skill set reserved for catch-and-shoot specialists at the beginning of this decade, but Curry busted our shooting records by destroying those conventions. To this day, more than 80% of NBA 3s are assisted, but for Curry that number is just 62%. The dude creates and makes his own 3-pointers off the bounce better than anyone else we've seen:

Since 2013-14, 57 players have attempted at least 500 off-the-dribble 3s. CJ McCollum ranks No. 2 within that group by making 37% of his attempts; Curry is at 40.7%, per Second Spectrum tracking.

In that same time, 218 players have attempted at least 500 catch-and-shoot 3s. Curry ranks second in both made 3s and 3P%.

play 0:44 LeBron, Heat repeat with Game 7 win over Spurs On June 20, 2013, after a thrilling Game 6 win, the Heat finish off the Spurs with a 95-88 victory. LeBron James leads the way with 37 points and 12 rebounds in Miami's title defense.

The race for second-best shooter of the 2010s was much closer than the race for the top spot, but it's still hard to argue against KD here.

Durant can score from anywhere against anyone. That's what makes him special. Shots near the rim remain the most efficient attempts in the game, and unlike the decade's other great jump-shooters, Durant is a monster at the basket as well as in the midrange. Looking at his shot chart, you see the breadth of his brilliance.

Durant won four scoring titles in the 2010s thanks to his amazing blend of size, skill, smarts and scoring instincts. No player in the league can get good looks with such ease. Plus, Durant launched more jumpers than anyone else this decade. In other words, the money was easy.

If we're tracking all shots since 2013-14, not just 3s, Durant had the second-biggest gap between his actual and expected eFG, per Second Spectrum's shot-quality metrics. His plus-9.82% was only slightly behind Curry's plus-9.92%, and no other player topped plus-7.54%.

Like Curry, Durant put up a 50/40/90 season, but unlike Curry, he did it mostly inside the arc.

Nobody scored more points in the 2010s than LeBron James, and he absolutely owned the paint.

Unlike the decade's other breakout superstars, James' scoring efficiency is mostly limited to one area. But that one area is the most vital spot in the sport. Despite the massive growth of 3-point scoring, shots around the rim still produce the biggest return on investment in the game.

Perhaps the decade's most staggering scoring stat reveals just how dominant the decade's best player was in the sport's most important zone. Check this out:

James led the NBA in total paint scoring and ranked No. 2 in paint efficiency out of 227 players with at least 1,500 attempts the past 10 seasons.

Yep, that's crazy. While interior shooting is an entirely different skill from jump-shooting, James is the Steph Curry of close-range buckets:

Dwight Howard ranked No. 2 in the NBA in the 2010s by converting a whopping 3,796 field goals within 8 feet of the basket. James made 4,434!

During the 2010s, 152 NBA players converted at least 1,000 field goals within 8 feet of the basket. Of that group, James ranked No. 1 in FG%, converting a ridiculous 69.2% of his shots.

play 1:13 Harden's dance moves walk the line between travel and art form Here is a look at a selection of James Harden shots this season on which he showed off magic footwork.

It's fair to say that James is just an average jump-shooter; he made only 38.3% of his shots beyond 8 feet during the 2010s. But it's impossible to argue that the decade's leading scorer has an offensive formula that's anything short of awesome.

Thompson has a case as the most terrifying heat-check shooter we've ever seen. Just utter his name around an Oklahoma City Thunder fan, and you'll see the terror he can strike in a fan base. If it weren't for Thompson's 11 3s in a must-win Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference finals, the entire NBA landscape would be different today. That night, Klay and his triples saved Golden State's season, punctured the Thunder's potential title run and set the wheels in motion for Durant to land in Oakland later that summer.

play 0:46 Dirk's signature fadeaway helped him cement legacy Fourteen-time NBA All-Star Dirk Nowitzki's signature fadeaway jumper helped him build a unique Hall of Fame career.

Unlike almost any other catch-and-shoot specialist, Thompson has won games in huge moments with ridiculously efficient volume scoring. Who can forget the night in 2016 when he scored 60 points against the Pacers despite dribbling just 11 times and possessing the ball for a total of 90 seconds?!

Thompson made the third-most 3-point shots this decade, trailing only Harden and Curry. But what's incredible is that he did that as second or third banana on one of the era's most dominant teams.

5. James Harden

Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Harden is one of the most innovative scorers we've ever seen. While his shot chart reveals that he's an average shooter from the field, Harden achieves superstar efficiency levels by sticking to a ketogenic shot diet and getting to the line.

Harden began the decade as a young buck coming off the bench in OKC, but he ended it quarterbacking the most unique offense in the game. Even though his efficiency numbers might not compete with those of the other guys on this list, his volume, creativity and innovation are second to none.

Don't believe me? He's already the all-time NBA leader in unassisted 3s, and he just turned 30.

6. Dirk Nowitzki