How Curry got the Warriors assist mark
Star guard passes Guy Rodgers on all-time list during Monday’s loss against Lakers
With his assist to Kelly Oubre Jr. in the third quarter against the Lakers Monday night at Chase Center, Stephen Curry became the Warriors’ franchise leader in assists for a career, breaking Guy Rodgers’ 55-yearold franchise record of 4,855.
During the first minute of the third quarter, Curry found a cutting Kelly Oubre Jr., 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 diving 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 head 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 last six seasons, Curry is the origin of Golden State’s ball-movement heavy offense.
“The Steph-Draymond connection has been so potent for us over the years, and a huge part of that interaction is Steph actually getting the ball to Draymond. A lot of his best passes don’t even lead to an assist. They lead to Draymond’s assist.”
It wasn’t always that way. 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 pickand-roll.