Stephen Curry will be remembered as one of the best players in NBA history and probably the best shooter of all time. Yet, Steph is still disrespected by a lot of people in the NBA world. He’s a 2x NBA MVP (the only unanimous MVP in NBA history), 3x NBA champion and more but that doesn’t seem to please people, who still consider him a regular player.
For instance, Bomani Jones of ESPN recently claimed that Steph wasn’t a superstar but a system player. Yes, he said that on Thursday on “The Right Time with Bomani Jones” podcast.
“This is my metric for (NBA) superstar — do you have a chance to win a championship just because we got you?” Jones said while talking with Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “We’ll work the rest out, but if the first thing you tell me is that this guy plays for us, then we got a chance to do this.”
Then, Bomani exchanged his opinions with Goodwill, stating why he has doubts about Steph and what is his biggest problem with the Warriors star.
Jones: “I feel like even with a healthy Stephen Curry, you gotta put some fairly specific things around him.”
Goodwill: “But you got a chance.”
Jones: “Yeah, but to have the chance you have to put this fairly specific set of things around him. And he can’t guard nobody.”
Goodwill: “Even with that, you can win with him in a way that maybe you can’t with Damian Lillard (or) Kyrie Irving.”
Jones: “If you tell me that you have Kevin Durant, you have a chance to win the championship. If you tell me you have Kawhi Leonard, my immediate response is, ‘You have a chance to win a championship.’ And the same with LeBron [James and Giannis Antetokounmpo]. You tell me you got Steph — I want you to tell me a little bit more … my only problem with Steph though — this is a big problem — getting his own shot. He can get his own shot if he shoots it from 40 (feet).
“He’s got sick handle and all that stuff. There’s something different. It’s hard to explain what it is with Steph, but Steph is somehow like the greatest system player of all time. And I’m not saying that to shade him. But you are not going 1-4 flat and being like, ‘Get us a bucket.’ “
Well, it’s fair to say that not a single superstar in the history of the league has won the title without the right pieces around them. Not Bill Russell, not Michael Jordan, not Kobe Bryant, not LeBron James, nobody.
Before Kevin Durant landed in the Warriors and made them the powerhouse they were in the last five years, Steph Curry was surrounded by the right cast to win the title. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green complemented the point guard very well, which led the Warriors to win their first of three titles in 2015.
This take raised a lot of eyebrows around the league. Even JJ Redick had to talk about it on his podcast, saying that the disrespect that Steph receives every day ‘blows his mind’. Well, that’s not crazy. Curry has to be one of the most undervalued players in NBA history, no matter what he does.
One of the most common arguments is that he plays great in the Finals, he underperformed because he didn’t win the MVP regardless of his numbers.
People will always find a way to put him down but the numbers are there, the trophies and the accolades are there for one of the best players this game has ever seen.
