Steph Curry has been showered with praise after he led the Golden State Warriors to the NBA Finals yet again as they defeated the Dallas Mavericks in 5 games in the Western Conference Finals. This will be the sixth trip to the Finals for Steph in the last eight seasons, and he is in fine form at the moment as well, having just won the first-ever Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP.
Speaking before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith made a bold claim about where Curry stands in the pantheon of NBA greats as he ranked him above Julius Erving and Moses Malone:
“Right now without a fourth title, I am putting Steph Curry ahead, respectfully of the great Moses Malone and the great “Dr. J” Julius Erving. Steph Curry has 3 championships, they don’t. Steph Curry is the greatest shooter in the history of basketball. As great of a center as Moses Malone was, as great as Dr. J was they ain’t the greatest ever. Michael Jordan, Kobe were better than Dr. J and several centers were better than Moses Malone. There is no shooter better than Steph Curry in the history of basketball.”
Erving and Malone were two of the most decorated players of their time, with Malone winning 3 MVPs while Erving won an MVP in the NBA and he also won 3 MVPs in the ABA. They came together to win a title in 1983 and are deservedly remembered as two of the best to ever do it.
Curry is definitely making a case to be above them at this point, as Smith mentioned. He has won 2 MVPs to go with 3 NBA titles and if he does win another one here, then there can really be no arguments against Curry climbing up the ladder of all-time greatness. He will also be hunting for his first Finals MVP, which is the biggest accolade missing from his trophy cabinet.
