Over the years, the league has seen many players don the role of the floor general on the NBA court. But among them, there are point guards who are a notch above the rest.
The role of a point guard is very crucial for a team’s success in the NBA. They are not only responsible for playmaking but also take care of scoring as well. Speaking of the best point guards the league has ever seen, HoopsHype created a list of 20 best players to play the position.
It featured players like Jerry West to Stephen Curry and ranked them on the basis of votes received by numerous NBA fans. According to the list, here are the 20 greatest point guards to ever play in the NBA:
- Magic Johnson
- Oscar Roberston
- Jerry West
- Stephen Curry
- Isiah Thomas
- Chris Paul
- John Stockton
- Steve Nash
- Bob Cousy
- Jason Kidd
- Gary Payton
- Russell Westbrook
- Damian Lillard
- Walt Frazier
- Nate Archibald
- Pete Maravich
- Tony Parker
- Lenny Wilkens
- Kyrie Irving
- Dave Bing
While for the most part, the list seems accurate, there is one thing that stung the fans. It was seeing Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry ranked number 4. Curry is responsible for shaping modern-day basketball through his insane three-point shooting.
Many NBA players have been inspired by watching Steph’s game and of course trying to incorporate that play style into their skill set.
NBA Central on Twitter shared the list made by HoopsHype and fans reacted to it. Here are some of the best reactions to the post:
https://twitter.com/Perri2_0/status/1456009315781861377
Chris Paul is 11th
7. His passing isn’t as effective as Stockton’s
8. Not as influential or impactful as Nash
9. Not a Champion or pioneer like Cousy
10. Not a wizard or as aggressive as Kidd
Peace!
— Kairos313 (@Lorenzob313) November 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/007AndAHalf_/status/1456002474427420683https://twitter.com/Officialj0nn/status/1455969208077111298
Jerry west is 1-8 in the finals. How in tf is he better than Steph?
— NO SAUCES ENT. (@b0y1da_) November 4, 2021
Stop the nonsense pic.twitter.com/5iJYMcy50y
— 4 of them (@Nate_moseby) November 3, 2021
Steph is 2nd and it’s not close LMAOO
— † (@HoodiHachimura) November 3, 2021
— Antonin (@antonin_org) November 3, 2021
Jerry West is not a PG, Bob Cousy should be a little lower, and there's no way under the sun that John Stockton is #7.
— Unbiased NE Fan 🇺🇸🇩🇴🇮🇪 (@NewUnbiased) November 4, 2021
I agree with the first two but I wouldn't put jerry west over Isiah Thomas, steph curry , or even Stockton, I like cp3 , but give Stockton his flowers please, that man is no lower than 4th all time
— Lamar Thomas (@LamarTh02491532) November 4, 2021
Steph and Chris are 2 and 3.
— Dax McCoy (@DaxGotFacts) November 3, 2021
All respect to older generations but Stephen Curry had the greatest offensive season ever and would make Jerry Wear look like Steve Blake.
— Jake (@JakeAndBall) November 3, 2021
What is this fascination with old players? You got Oscar at #2 but don't have Westbrook listed at all. You have West over Curry & dude admittedly didn't even practice in the off season. You can show respect to the old players in different ways. No need to disrespect today's…
— @TheGOATSofBall (@TheGOATSofball) November 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/handsomekingleo/status/1455968250630746118
It is quite evident that the fans weren’t happy with Steph Curry being placed at #4. Although Magic Johnson deserves to be at the #1 spot, Curry could be bumped a place or two.
But then there’s the argument that Curry is not a true point guard. He is more of a shooting guard due to his amazing shooting prowess. Additionally, Curry ranks a bit lower in terms of providing assists to his teammates.
Apart from Curry being ranked low, a few fans were not happy seeing some of the older generation players being ranked higher than the likes of Chris Paul or Steve Nash.
All things considered, the list might not be 100% accurate as it is obvious after seeing the fans’ reactions. Maybe if it had Steph and CP3 ranked higher, fans would have loved it? But you can never be sure.
