Stephen Curry is one of the defining players of this era, if not the most important one. Kevin Garnett has gone as far as to call him the Michael Jordan of this generation. And the way Steph has changed the game cannot be denied. His three-point shooting prowess has revolutionized the league. And on top of that, he has 4 championships, the same as some of the greatest in the history of basketball.
In the process of winning those 4 championships, he has denied many players an opportunity to do the same. The Warriors were the scourge of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, and Portland Trail Blazers in the late 2010s and eliminated all of them from the playoffs on various occasions. So it’s no surprise that a fan on Reddit has credited Curry with ruining the careers of his rival superstars, starting with James Harden.
“James Harden: Curry has destroyed Harden in every way possible. He completely ruined every one of his playoffs runs ever since 2015 and arguably is the reason behind Harden choosing to leave the rockets and head to the east after so many failed attempts against Curry.
“First in 2015, where Curry wiped the rockets 4-1, then 2016 a second time at the same record, then in 2018, as Houston would acquire Chris Paul, him and harden had never been closer to their first Finals appearance as they faced curry in the 2018 Western Conference Finals (this time with KD ofc). Houston had a 17-point lead in Game 7, but then what happens? None other than Curry stops screwing around and puts Harden and Houston back to sleep a 3rd time.”
The fan also went on to similarly detail how Curry messed with Damian Lillard’s opportunities to get himself a ring.
“Damian Lillard: Lillard’s result is quite the same fate as Harden’s: He too has been destroyed by Curry in the postseason. Two consecutive times from 2016 to 2017, and then after making his first Conference Finals in 2019, just to get swept. Despite averaging nearly 30 points in each run against Curry, and having the help of C.J McCollum, an All-Star level guard, he still stood no chance against Curry and Golden State.”
The fan’s last mention was LeBron James, but that one is a bit contentious as LeBron’s career has seen him enter the GOAT conversation despite his many battles with Steph.
NBA Fan Contentiously Claimed That Stephen Curry Ruined LeBron James’ Career
LeBron James has as many NBA titles as Steph Curry, more Finals MVPs, and MVPs, and is ahead of him in just about every metric. He lost to GSW and Curry thrice in the Finals but also beat them in one of the most historic Finals ever, making this an intriguing claim.
“This is quite arguable. LeBron’s finals run against curry in 2016 definitely proved he’s one of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen. However, the year before without having Kevin Love and Kyrie against the Warriors proved to be fatal to James and the Cavs as they were destroyed 4-2.
“During the 2016 offseason following the Cavs’ victory, the Warriors acquired Kevin Durant and became the most broken team in NBA history. The 2017 finals would prove to be the ultimate test against James, but with Curry, Durant, and Thompson, James and Irving weren’t enough to handle the triple threat, despite even scoring 35+ points each in the same game. They lost 4-1, and it only got worse for James as Irving went on to leave the Cavs afterward.”
It’s tough to say that Curry was responsible for ruining James’ career, but it can safely be admitted that he has cost both Harden and Dame multiple chances at a ring. The take overall is an interesting one and leaves much to think about for fans when they look back at Steph’s career.
