Stephen Curry is listed as 6’2″ and isn’t taller than 6’3″, but he hasn’t let that stop him from being one of the greatest players to ever play basketball and change the game.
Isiah Thomas arguably held the mantle of the greatest ‘small’ NBA player before Curry. He recently opened up on how Curry has changed the game while winning championships with the Golden State Warriors despite this apparent disadvantage.
“For whatever reason in sports, people want to hate on the small guy. And in sports, normally the bigger players dominate. When you blessed with the genetic gift of size, weight, right? When you 6’8″, 6’9” and you know, can jump and do… That’s a genetic gift we small guys don’t have.
“So Steph Curry, myself, you kind of look at Stephen and go, ‘I can do what he does.’ But that’s the beauty of it. That’s the inspiration when small guys like us can do it against the genetic freaks.
“And then people of normal size can say, ‘Well, I don’t have to have a 52-inch vertical. I don’t have to be 6’9”. If I can work on my handle and shoot it, I can get to play.’ And that’s the beauty of the game. Steph doesn’t get enough credit… By the people outside the sport. But the people inside of the sport, Steph Curry walk in the room, we all bow.”
(starts at 25:34 minutes)
Stephen Curry has changed the way the game is played, any player averaging 42.8% from three-point range while averaging nine threes a game for their career will do that. He is impossible to guard also because of his limitless range, and he has changed the way basketball is played with that. The spacing and everything is different in today’s game and that’s why he is the only unanimous MVP in league history.
Isiah Thomas And Allen Iverson Are The Other Pound-For-Pound NBA GOATs
After Curry won his fourth championship, Charles Barkley said he is up there with Isiah Thomas as the greatest small guard to ever play the game. Isiah Thomas is often underrated as a player because of all the drama around the Bad Boy Pistons. He was 6’1 but led the Detroit Pistons to two championships, won Finals MVP, and averaged 19.2 points and 9.3 assists for his career. He was on a level by himself in his playing days.
Allen Iverson is the only other guard in this category. He averaged 26.7 points per game in his career despite being just 6’0″ feet tall. Iverson never won a championship like Isiah and Curry, but he changed the game just like they did. As the NBA grows ever more athletic, with bigger guards and wings preferred, Curry is sure to inspire the next generations of small but incredible guards.
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