Over the course of his already legendary NBA career, Steph Curry has been credited with changing the way the game is played. His incredible shooting from three-point range has changed the shots that players take and the way those players are guarded by opposition defenders. Steph sees double-teams and even triple-teams when his Warriors take on other teams in the league.
Curry is considered one of the hardest players to guard in the NBA, combining elite handles with his unreal shot-making. But the NBA is filled with some other transcendental talents as well, players who’s abilities make them equally tough to guard and scheme around. And Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse has now shared his opinion that there are 4 players are tougher to guard than Steph.
Speaking on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and The Three podcast, Nurse was asked about Curry and he complimented Steph, admitting that he is indeed incredibly tough to guard. However, when asked about if there are any players that are tougher to plan for, he named a handful of names.
“Yeah, there’s a handful of them. As you know, he’s (Curry) really really tough without a doubt.
“But you know who the other ones are. It’s really hard to figure out what to do with LeBron. He’s just seen, and he seems to see and beat everything. It’s hard to make him that uncomfortable. Giannis is really hard, (James) Harden, (Kevin) Durant. There’s quite a few of them, actually.”
LeBron James is widely considered the best player of this era, Durant and Harden have both been elite scorers throughout their careers and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s physicality and athleticism make him incredibly tough to deal with. It’s no surprise that Nurse mentioned all of these players as each and every one of them has been a real problem for defenders during their time in the league.
Curry is competing with Durant and Giannis in the MVP race this season and has led his Warriors to the best record in the NBA despite a number of his co-stars missing time. While all of these players share a tier of greatness, Curry’s ability to shoot the ball from seemingly anywhere on the floor will always make him uniquely difficult to guard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH2vxCypGws
