In recent years, Stephen Curry has climbed a lot of ranks in the list of best players of all time. Although most regarded him as the best shooter of all time, they didn’t believe that he was a top 10 player.
On the same note, he was still considered a barely top 5 point guard in the history of the league. But it all changed after the 2021-22 NBA season. After missing the playoffs for two straight seasons, Steph spearheaded the Warriors’ comeback last season.
He led them to a strong regular season and made sure that the team didn’t take their foot off the gas in the postseason. As a result, the Warriors went on to win the 2022 NBA Championship.
Additionally, Steph also bagged the first NBA Finals MVP of his illustrious career. Following that amazing playoff run, many believe that Curry has finally cracked the list of top 10 best players in NBA history. Moreover, they have also started to believe that he has surpassed Magic Johnson and should be regarded as the best point guard in the league’s history too.
Gilbert Arenas Doesn’t Think Curry Has Surpassed Magic
While Curry is an all-time great, the impact that Magic Johnson left on the league is something that we won’t see again. His amazing rivalry with Larry Bird helped in re-popularizing the NBA during the 1980s.
On top of that, Magic was a phenomenal player who won five NBA Championships in his career, along with other accolades. Keeping that in mind, Arenas firmly believes that fans shouldn’t put Curry ahead of Magic.
(Starts at 20:22):
“When you’re talking about the impact Magic made on the game, you gotta remember. … You’re talking about Hall of Fame and when you’re talking about impact. Even though they’re both impact players, Magic was in that time where racism was still hot. You know Magic-Bird, that whole thing, it was a big movement. I really don’t even think that the world would allow you to put Steph in front of Magic. I mean you’re gonna maybe 30-40 years from now when some of those older guys die off.
The recency bias has led many to believe that Curry has already surpassed Magic. But when we take a look at the career comparison of Magic and Curry, it’s clear that the former is still ahead of the latter.
As Arenas mentioned in the clip, maybe when a few players from Magic’s generation have passed away, or Curry simply wins more accolades, then only he may be considered a greater player than Magic.
