Winning cures all. They need Steph and Green back. Steph especially. There is some smoke there. Green and Durant do no like each other and have made that public. Their little squabble will end up breaking this dynasty up. Interesting stats here concerning the Warriors and their roster. Warriors win 81 percent of their games when Curry and Durant both play. (65 win pace) Warriors win 89 percent of their games when Durant doesn't play (won 21 in a row, 73 win pace) Warriors win 62 percent of their games when Curry doesn't play. (50 win pace)
Steph is the engine driving one of the best teams ever and has won two MVPs, but when you ask people where he ranks in the current NBA many of them still say, "Well, he's just a shooter, maybe #7 or so." It's flat-out absurd. After LeBron, it's KD and Steph in some order. Period.
He’s also a top 5 offense by himself, a 3-time champion and a 2-time MVP. If he looked less like a regular guy, there’s no chance anyone is putting a guy with that resume outside of the top 3 IMO
I disagree 100% with where you’re going with that last statement. I think people make him out to be better than he is BECAUSE he looks more like a regular guy (See: Unanimous MVP). Let’s talk about his titles. 2 of his 3 championships have come with the 2nd best player in the world on his team, and I don’t think he has a finals MVP, does he? He has benefited more than most from having a great team around him. The dude is all time great, but I have no problem whatsoever with anyone saying he’s not the 3rd best player in the world.
Who is better than Curry? I can think of a few names that you could make a case for but you would have a hard time convincing most he isn't among the 3 best in the world.
It makes people like him, but I don’t think it makes them think he’s better. If anything, I think people underrate how much his shooting drives their entire historically great offense and refer to him as “just a shooter.” Iggy winning a Finals MVP was an absolute joke. The team around him pre-Durant was good, but acting like Klay and Draymond carried Curry to 73 wins and not the other way around is completely ridiculous. And as GahLee said, who else you taking? Harden and HIS terrible defense?
You think Steph should have won it over him? LeBron was the MVP of that series, and it wasn’t even close. No one is saying anyone carried anyone. They’re a historically great TEAM, and all of the players compliment each others’ styles well. Durant is the best, and Curry is next best after that. But I don’t think there is too significant of a gap between Curry and Klay. Draymond isn’t as great as he was in the past, but his defense and nastiness used to be a key part of the team’s chemistry. I take LeBron over him obviously. Durant as well. I’d take Kawhi and Giannis over him too. I’d probably tie him at 5th with Anthony Davis. The best or worst thing that can happen to Steph’s legacy is Durant and Klay both going elsewhere in free agency. If his dominance continues when he’s not surrounded by some of the best talent/shooters in the league, I’ll feel more comfortable throwing him in the top 3. If he falls off (aside from injury), I think that will solidify him as a top 5-10 player but not on the same level as Bron and Durant.
Several guys that you could make a compelling argument for; Giannis, George, Leonard, Davis, Embiid, maybe a few others. But in reality, they cannot do what he does, nobody can. Curry is essentially the difference between them being a simply average team and all-time great potential. Not many players have that impact. None of the guy mentioned just now have it.
LeBron should have won it, but among the Warriors, it was Steph easily. I would say there’s a pretty large gap between KD/Steph and Klay/Draymond. They were a 45-win team until Curry took his game up several notches, and no one was calling them historically great until he did. Curry and a couple top-25ish players won the most games of any team in history. His status as one of the league’s very best was solidified a long time ago. His 2016 season was one of the best offensive seasons in the history of the NBA and something Klay will never dream of approaching. Without him, that 2016 team is just a regular team that wins 40-something games at most.
You are severely underestimating the players around him on the pre-Durant teams. Is Klay not a historically great shooter? Their bench was also top notch and, if memory serves, won them a number of playoff games when the stars went cold. I hear you on the “most games in history,” but they didn’t win the title that year. That matters. And I don’t think your last sentence really helps your point. Saying “Without X team’s best player, X team would have only been a lower seeded playoff team” doesn’t prove anything. You could say that about almost any superstar. Hell, look at what happens every time LeBron leaves an NBA finals caliber team. It becomes a dumpster fire.
I’m not questioning Curry’s impact. I’m just pointing out the similar (though slightly lesser, in Klay’s case) impact his teammates make. Like I said, I hope Klay and Durant both leave. If that happens, do you all believe Curry will continue to post all time great shooting percentages/numbers, and that the Warriors will continue to be a power in the West?
Klay is a great catch and shoot player, all-time great. Really good defender. You could replace him with a number of guys and they would still be elite. Curry is irreplaceable on that team.
Take Curry off this team and they are average. Even with Durant, Klay and Green. Just another 50 win team that will have to scrap all the way through the playoffs. With Curry it is a foregone conclusion that they will win yet another title.