There aren’t many players in NBA history who hold inarguable best-ever titles.
There’s a healthy debate between Michael Jordan and LeBron James for the best overall player of all time. Best centers is a fun one with some recent momentum generated by Nikola Jokić. Good luck even narrowing a “best defender of all time” discussion to a manageable number.
But on the subject of the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA, it’d be hard to volunteer anyone but Stephen Curry with a straight face.
It’s not just the fact that Curry is the all-time leader in both career threes and career threes per game. So many of his triples were on the move, with defenders in his face or otherwise under duress. There really is no argument on this front. But we’ll talk more about that later. (Spoiler alert!)
Here, we can spend a little time on Curry’s playmaking (6.3 assists per game for his career), rebounding (his 4.7 boards per game ranks first among three-point-era players his height and shorter) and defense (he led the league in steals per game in 2015-16).
Curry is a far more well-rounded player than he’s typically gotten credit for. Focusing on the shooting is understandable, but all of those other contributions were a huge part of his overall impact.
The stuff that isn’t in the conventional box score is, too. Off-ball movement, a willingness to play in a team-first system (as opposed to heliocentrism) and malleability alongside other high-usage stars have to be a part of Curry’s legacy.
That entire package is why, over the course of his career, the Golden State Warriors are plus-7.4 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor in the playoffs and minus-4.6 without him.
Add that to the four titles and two MVPs (one of which was unanimous), and Curry has a better-than-you-might-think argument to be considered the single best player of this quarter-century.
Love the steph part, but that first team is terrible. Only right answer has gotta be Steph, Kobe, Bron, Duncan, and Shaq. Tf are we doing.
Kevin Garnett > LeFraud Blames
CP3 over Westbrook, really?
EDIT: Westbrook got an MVP and had a higher peak over CP3
We all don’t like Brodie but putting CP3 over him makes no sense
Even Nash should be over CP3, nash had 2 MVP’s…
Damn right
Kd over garnett?
It also appears Steph was unanimously voted as the Best Shooter as well.
Zero surprise but it doesn’t seem like most people in the original thread are even bothering to click the link and view the whole article lol.
Draymond also received votes for Best Defender but looks like he was likely 3rd (he’s mentioned first in the “others” both times and it was a tie for 1st, so I’m speculating) and at worst 5th.
It’s crazy to think where Steph’s stats would be like if he never got hurt the first couple years of his career
I would say Shaq over Duncan, and move TD to 2nd team. Otherwise I would have put T-mac over Garnett, but KG did win a ring. Otherwise solid list.
I would hope the 4-time champ, 2-time (and only unanimous) MVP, FMVP, shooting GOAT is first century. Who else compares? Honest question.
Nash? Doesn’t touch the accolades and records. Kidd? Same. Kyrie? Lost to Steph three times. Paul? No rings and also notoriously eliminated by Steph. SGA? Not enough time and only one ring. Russ? Ya no rings, just meaningless stat padding for an irrelevant accolade.
Idc about other positions. Steph’s in the 1st team, I am satisfied.
12 comments
1st-Team Guard: Stephen Curry
Quarter-Century Stats: 24.7 points, 6.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 4.0 threes, 1.5 steals, 42.3 three-point percentage, 6.5 box plus/minus
Quarter-Century Accolades: 2x MVP, 4x 1st-Team All-NBA, 5x 2nd-Team All-NBA, 2x 3rd-Team All-NBA, 11x All-Star, 2x scoring champion, 2015-16 steal champion, 4x champion, 2022 Finals MVP
There aren’t many players in NBA history who hold inarguable best-ever titles.
There’s a healthy debate between Michael Jordan and LeBron James for the best overall player of all time. Best centers is a fun one with some recent momentum generated by Nikola Jokić. Good luck even narrowing a “best defender of all time” discussion to a manageable number.
But on the subject of the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA, it’d be hard to volunteer anyone but Stephen Curry with a straight face.
It’s not just the fact that Curry is the all-time leader in both career threes and career threes per game. So many of his triples were on the move, with defenders in his face or otherwise under duress. There really is no argument on this front. But we’ll talk more about that later. (Spoiler alert!)
Here, we can spend a little time on Curry’s playmaking (6.3 assists per game for his career), rebounding (his 4.7 boards per game ranks first among three-point-era players his height and shorter) and defense (he led the league in steals per game in 2015-16).
Curry is a far more well-rounded player than he’s typically gotten credit for. Focusing on the shooting is understandable, but all of those other contributions were a huge part of his overall impact.
The stuff that isn’t in the conventional box score is, too. Off-ball movement, a willingness to play in a team-first system (as opposed to heliocentrism) and malleability alongside other high-usage stars have to be a part of Curry’s legacy.
That entire package is why, over the course of his career, the Golden State Warriors are plus-7.4 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor in the playoffs and minus-4.6 without him.
Add that to the four titles and two MVPs (one of which was unanimous), and Curry has a better-than-you-might-think argument to be considered the single best player of this quarter-century.
[Source](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25331693-brs-nba-all-quarter-century-teams)
Love the steph part, but that first team is terrible. Only right answer has gotta be Steph, Kobe, Bron, Duncan, and Shaq. Tf are we doing.
Kevin Garnett > LeFraud Blames
CP3 over Westbrook, really?
EDIT: Westbrook got an MVP and had a higher peak over CP3
We all don’t like Brodie but putting CP3 over him makes no sense
Even Nash should be over CP3, nash had 2 MVP’s…
Damn right
Kd over garnett?
It also appears Steph was unanimously voted as the Best Shooter as well.
Zero surprise but it doesn’t seem like most people in the original thread are even bothering to click the link and view the whole article lol.
Draymond also received votes for Best Defender but looks like he was likely 3rd (he’s mentioned first in the “others” both times and it was a tie for 1st, so I’m speculating) and at worst 5th.
It’s crazy to think where Steph’s stats would be like if he never got hurt the first couple years of his career
I would say Shaq over Duncan, and move TD to 2nd team. Otherwise I would have put T-mac over Garnett, but KG did win a ring. Otherwise solid list.
I would hope the 4-time champ, 2-time (and only unanimous) MVP, FMVP, shooting GOAT is first century. Who else compares? Honest question.
Nash? Doesn’t touch the accolades and records. Kidd? Same. Kyrie? Lost to Steph three times. Paul? No rings and also notoriously eliminated by Steph. SGA? Not enough time and only one ring. Russ? Ya no rings, just meaningless stat padding for an irrelevant accolade.
Idc about other positions. Steph’s in the 1st team, I am satisfied.
GOAT of this era. Nothing surprising here.