Stephen Curry is a player who often faces insane defensive coverages on the court. We’ve often seen him work through double teams and in the 2019 Finals, Raptors coach Nick Nurse notably ran a box and one defense in order to try and stop Stephen Curry. This season, in particular, Curry has faced a lot of defensive attention, yet somehow, he is still the scoring leader.
There are many good defensive players in the league, but there are none that quite stop Stephen Curry 1 on 1. Every defender will have their own strategy, but often, players just end up fouling Stephen Curry instead of actually stopping him. Former All-Defensive team member Raja Bell revealed on Damon, Ratto, and Kolsky that he tried to clothesline Stephen Curry when they first played when asked about how he would guard Stephen Curry. He also added that clotheslining Curry had no effect.
Ray Ratto: Would you clothesline him?
Raja Bell: I actually tried the 1st time I played him. I tried to bully him. It didn’t work though… Unlike some of the guards that are really dancing on the ball… Steph isn’t on the ball that much anymore… as a defender you’re only as good as the help you get…I don’t know how you would guard him, it’s impossible.
There are often many missed calls that Stephen Curry should get, and as Raja Bell mentions, Curry is borderline impossible to guard. Stephen Curry is a danger to defenses anywhere on the court: obviously, even when he gets fouled, he is nearly unstoppable.
