Mark Jackson coached Stephen Curry from 2011 to 2014, but he doesn’t believe the Golden State Warriors superstar is one of the five best pure point guards of all time. On a recent episode of The Mark Jackson Show, the 58-year-old shared his top-five list.
1. Magic Johnson
2. Isiah Thomas
3. John Stockton
4. Jason Kidd
5/6. Steve Nash/Chris Paul
https://twitter.com/NBABeyondCourt/status/1769684774757728341
I don’t think this is any kind of shade being thrown at Curry here, as Jackson, like so many others, probably doesn’t consider him to be a pure point guard. He isn’t the one who orchestrates the Warriors’ offense, with that task falling on Draymond Green and Chris Paul’s shoulders.
Curry is what you would say is the modern prototype for a point guard, where they are really scorers that can also do a bit of playmaking. It is evidenced by the fact that he has twice led the league in scoring, but has never been the league leader in assists.
Curry has only ever averaged over eight assists a game in one season in his career, which was 2013-14, when he put up 8.5 assists per game. Incidentally, that was Jackson’s last season as head coach of the Warriors as well. When you compare how Curry fared as a playmaker to the players Jackson mentioned, you see just how far ahead they are of him.
Magic Johnson is the NBA’s all-time leader in average assists per game, with a career average of 11.2. Johnson also led the league in assists four times in his storied career and Jackson doesn’t seem to think there is any debate about who should have that top spot.
Isiah Thomas took the second spot and he averaged 9.3 assists per game for his career. Thomas only ever managed to lead the league in assists once, but that was largely thanks to Johnson and the man who comes next.
John Stockton led the league in assists nine seasons in a row, from 1987-88 to 1995-96, which is ridiculous. Stockton averaged 10.5 assists per game for his career and remains the all-time leader in assists with 15,806.
Next was Jason Kidd, who ranks second all-time on the assists charts with 12,091. Kidd led the league in assists five times and had a career average of 8.7 assists per game.
Jackson couldn’t decide on whether to have Chris Paul or Steve Nash as his definitive fifth-best pure point guard. Like Kidd, they both led the league in assists five times, with Nash’s career average being 8.5 while Paul’s is 9.4.
Is Stephen Curry The Greatest Point Guard Of All Time?
While Curry does not have a case to be regarded as the greatest pure point guard of all time, he does have one to be considered the greatest point guard ever. To go with those two scoring titles, the 36-year-old has won four NBA titles, a Finals MVP, and two MVPs.
It has become a real debate now on whether he or Magic is the greatest at the position and we know who Draymond Green has gone with. Green believes Curry has surpassed Johnson to become the greatest point guard ever. His former teammate shares that sentiment as well, as Kevin Durant called Curry the greatest point guard.
I personally don’t think Curry has surpassed Johnson just yet. Magic won five titles, three Finals MVPs, and three MVPs in his career and his resume is still greater. Curry has time on his hands to strengthen his case, though, and if he can win another championship or two, he would have a great argument to be viewed as the greatest.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
