Stephen Curry finally cooled off Wednesday after a ridiculous 11 game stretch.
From March 29th through April 19th, the Golden State Warriors superstar point guard averaged 40 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 4.5 APG.
40 PPG is crazy on its own, but the numbers behind it paint a picture of sheer dominance.
54% from the field, 90% from the line, and a scorching 50% from 3 on just over 14 attempts per game.
He made at least 5 threes in 9 of the 11 games, with 4 of those games seeing him hit 10+.
Curry has been the league’s best shooter for some time now, but this hot streak reinforced his status.
Steph also broke or tied a few records during his magnificent run.
He passed Wilt Chamberlain as the Warriors’ all-time scoring leader with his 17,818th point.
Steph Curry becomes the @warriors all-time scoring leader, through the lens of our slo-mo #PhantomCam!
He's up to 26 1st-half points on ESPN pic.twitter.com/C1jUCfu6ra
— NBA (@NBA) April 13, 2021
Steph also broke the late Kobe Bryant‘s record for most consecutive games scoring 30+ points by a player over the age of 33.
Curry broke that after dropping 49 on the Philadelphia 76ers.
He also passed Kobe and Michael Jordan for most 40-point games in a calendar month with 5.
And his 72 made-threes over a 10-game stretch was the most in NBA history.
All of these shattered records are also coming with little to no help around him.
With Curry doing this mostly on his own, some are asking if he has risen to the level of MJ or LeBron James.
We won’t debate the G.O.A.T., but does he register in the top 5?
Curry Career Stats
First, let’s take a look at Steph’s career accomplishments through 12 seasons.
He has 18,007 points (77th All-Time), which calculates out to 24 PPG (22nd All-Time).
Curry is currently 33 years old, and if he plays another 5 seasons, he should comfortably sit top 20 in points scored.
He has an outside shot at the top 10 but would either need to play 6-7 more seasons or continue to score at a torrid pace.
His 4,922 assists rank 71st All-Time and his 1,266 steals clock in at 83rd All-Time.
Curry is 2nd all-time in 3’s made and will pass Ray Allen next year pending he stays healthy.
Steph Curry sinks his 2,561st career three-pointer to move into 2nd place on the NBA’s all-time made threes list! 👏
(🎥: @NBA)
pic.twitter.com/ZhPNFFUc1m— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 24, 2021
Steph is also a 2x League MVP, 3x NBA Champion, and 6x All-NBA selection.
On top of the numbers, he is arguably the most influential player of the past decade.
His ability to shoot from nearly anywhere on the court completely changed the way basketball is played.
Centers nearly went extinct for a few years and shooting has never been so important.
Whenever Curry decides to hang ’em up, his impact will continue to live on.
Other Top 5 Candidates
If you want to put Curry in the top 5, that means somebody else needs to be removed.
Most people will have some combination of the following 10 players in their Mount Rushmore +1 of all-time greats.
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Kobe Bryant
- Magic Johnson
- Larry Bird
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Wilt Chamberlain
- LeBron James
- Michael Jordan
- Tim Duncan
- Bill Russell
For this debate, I’m going to narrow that list down to my personal top 5 (in no particular order).
- Michael Jordan
- LeBron James
- Magic Johnson
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Those five players have a combined 25 titles, 18 Finals MVPs, 19 MVPs, and 66 All-NBA selections.
So who amongst those 5 do you remove for Curry?
Jordan and James are cemented as the top 2 players ever.
That leaves Magic, Shaq, and Kareem.
Magic’s influence was on par with Curry’s.
Johnson was a 6’9″ point guard who engineered the Show Time Lakers and helped make the game what it is today.
Shaq was maybe the single most dominant presence to ever step foot on an NBA court.
His size, strength, and athleticism made him a force on both ends of the court, able to be stopped by nobody.
And all Kareem did was score the most points in NBA history.
A record that has stood since 1989 (and may soon be broken by James).
Curry has never won a Finals MVP.
Iguodala won it during the Warriors’ first title, while Durant took home the next two.
At this very moment, it is hard to make a case for Curry being in the top 5.
Influence on the game is one thing, but you need the stats to solidify your case.
And Curry’s numbers just aren’t there yet.
Depending on how the next 5 years go, this could be a new debate by that time.
