Curry becomes franchise leader in assists on Monday

With his assist to Kelly Oubre Jr. in the third quarter against the Lakers on Monday night at Chase Center, Stephen Curry became the Warriors’ franchise leader in assists for a career, breaking Guy Rodgers’ 55-year-old franchise record of 4,855.

During the first minute of the third quarter, Curry found a cutting Oubre, who scored over Lakers forward LeBron James and gave Curry his 4,856th career assist. Curry tied Rogers with 4:18 to go in the first quarter, when he found James Wiseman driving to the rim.

Curry is best known for his 3-point shooting from extraordinary distances, but his ability to turn that space into easy shots for his teammates has been an important factor in the Warriors’ success. His sense for getting his own looks and deferring to others is second-to-none.

“The assists don’t even begin to tell the story of what a good passer Steph is,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He can make passes with either hand and he gets blitzed so often that a lot of his passes come in traffic, under duress. And he does an incredible job of getting the ball out of the traps, and finding the right guy.”

Though Draymond Green is on pace to lead the Warriors in assists for the fifth time in the past six seasons, Curry is the origin of Golden State’s ballmovement heavy offense.

When Curry first entered the NBA as a diminutive point guard out of Davidson, he drew comparisons to Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash, who won a pair of MVP awards (2005, 2006) because of his ability to kickstart the Suns’ “Seven Seconds or Less” offense. Like Nash, Curry ran a heavy dose of pick-and-roll.

In his first game after the Warriors selected him with the seventh pick in the 2009 draft, Curry had 14 points and dished seven assists. During the game, the broadcast team claimed the rookie could lead coach Don Nelson’s group in assists by season’s end, and he did.

Curry’s first career assist went to Stephen Jackson. Curry ran a pick-androll on the right side of the court and whipped a sidearm pass to Jackson, who scored on an easy layup.

“That pick-and-roll play was something we practiced, trying to create mismatches,” Jackson said. “I’m just honored to say that his first assist came to me.”

Curry’s passing ability has evolved since that assist to Jackson. His assist numbers steadily climbed until reaching a peak in the 2014-15 season, when he averaged 8.5 assists per 36 minutes and won his first MVP trophy. That was Kerr’s first season. Upon taking over for Mark Jackson, Kerr instituted a read-and-react offense that jettisoned traditional pickand-roll sets for more nuanced actions and side-toside movement.

As they attempt to make a playoff push with a newlook supporting cast, Curry will add to his assist total, further cement himself as the greatest player in franchise history and impart some of those lessons on his younger teammates.

“It’s just seeing the floor, the game slowing down and balancing scoring and playmaking and reading the defense,” Curry said. “It comes with experience.”