Stephen Curry is undoubtedly the best shooter to ever play at the point guard position. He has found himself in the conversation to be considered the greatest point guard of all-time, among the likes of Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and more. Therefore, if you put him in the same tier as any other active player in the league, it feels like one is diminishing his legacy.
Former NBA player Patrick Beverley recently appeared on Twitch streamer Neon’s live stream, where Neon compared Stephen Curry to Fred VanVleet, the Rockets’ veteran point guard. Here’s how their conversation went when Beverley was training with Neon on stream.
Beverley: “Did you backpedal? No more backpedaling. When you’re shooting it, I want you to stay there until the ball goes f****ing in. The only person who gets away with it, Steph Curry.”
Neon: “That’s who I want to be like.”
Beverley: “No one’s like him, let’s get that clear. No one’s like him at all. No one would even be close to him.”
Neon: “There’s someone close.”
Beverley: “No one is close to Stephen Curry. He’s the best shooter to ever touch a ball.”
Neon: “You know who gives me a resemblance to him? Fred VanVleet.”
Beverley: “No. No one is close to Stephen Curry.”
NBA fans saw this claim go viral on social media as fans were left in disbelief over such a bizarre claim from the streamer. Especially, Warriors fans made their feelings clear on how disrespectful such a comparison was in the first place.
“Post-traumatic Steph disorder, Pat traumatized.”
“Bro said Fred VanVleet.”
“FVV? Insane statement.”
“He ain’t say Dame or Kyrie, n***a went straight to Van Vleet.”
“Fred is a horrible shooter smh.”
“FVV???? This dude clearly doesn’t watch any basketball. Wtf. LMAO.”
From a purely statistical comparison, Fred VanVleet does have one up on Stephen Curry in terms of team achievements going head-to-head. VanVleet has won the only battle between the duo in the NBA Finals back in 2019 when the Warriors’ dynasty run came to an end.
But only a ludicrous comparison would justify putting VanVleet on the same level as Curry in terms of individual accomplishments. Curry has four championships and a Finals MVP award, compared to VanVleet’s single championship.
Curry averaged 24.7 points, 6.4 assists, and 4.7 rebounds across 16 seasons while shooting 42.3% from beyond the three-point arc, averaging 9.3 attempts per game. VanVleet has averaged 14.9 points, 5.7 assists, and 3.4 rebounds while playing in the NBA for nine seasons. He has shot 37.1% from distance, while averaging 6.8 three-point shot attempts per game.
Suppose you look at this comparison purely from the perspective of finding another relatively small guard in the league who shoots at a similar volume as Curry. In that case, Trae Young is a better comparison than Fred VanVleet. But I have to agree with Patrick Beverley when he says that no one can truly be compared to Curry in the league at the moment.
