To club of elite shooters, Curry already best
Despite the fact that Stephen Curry has played only six seasons in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors guard already has been anointed by many, including Steve Nash, as the greatest shooter of all time.
“Truly, from the eye test, he’s the greatest there’s ever been,” Nash told the Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher for a story in which three other sharpshooters — Kiki Vandeweghe, Dana Barros and Chuck Person — agreed Curry is the best ever.
“The only pause I have is from fear of being ignorant,” Nash said. “Am I missing someone? Does he need to play longer or do it longer? Does he have to do it in the playoffs more years? But my first reaction is, ‘Why not?’
“He’s as good as anyone I can think of on every level — pure shooting, array of shots, percentage, getting hot, plays to the end — he checks all the boxes.”
Nash knows of what he speaks. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player is one of only six members of the league’s 50-40-90 club — which only accepts players who have shot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent on free throws for an entire season with the minimum amount of makes to qualify for the league leaders in each category.
Nash notched those numbers four times in five seasons and narrowly missed five straight. Larry Bird compiled two consecutive 50-40-90 seasons in the 1980s and is the only player besides Nash to reach the gold standard more than once. The other players in the club are Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki.
Curry came close to joining them this season — shooting 48.7 percent from the field, 44.3 on 3s and 91.4 from the line — but Nash put the percentages into perspective.
“He’s probably going to shoot a lower percentage than me his whole career because he’s going to take more shots, and he should,” Nash said. “It’s just a difference in mentality. I would shoot a higher percentage than Steph because I was much more conservative. I would try to shoot as high a percentage as possible to save shots for my teammates and then shoot more in the fourth quarter.
“I had coaches tell me I was hurting our team at times by trying to set up my teammates, but I always thought I got it back by how I made them feel and incorporated them into the offensive scheme and the chemistry of the team.
“He’s capable of that, but he’s more inclined to score. There are things he can do that I can’t. He’s such a beautiful shooter with such an array of shots and such a quick release, you wouldn’t want to take that away from him at all.”
Nash and Curry — who incredibly made 77 straight 3-pointers during a practice this season — share an uncanny ability to shoot off the dribble.
“Steph takes it to another level,” Nash said. “He can do it from deeper, and, frankly, I never took a step-back. He has no trouble taking a step-back and making it. You add that to all the other shots. It could be a clincher in this game of deciding who’s the best.”
Barros and Person ranked Miller and Ray Allen among the best shooters ever, with Bird, Glen Rice and the late Drazen Petrovic also making the list, while Vandeweghe named Nash, Jerry West, Dale Ellis and Curry’s father, Dell.
“I played HORSE with Nash, and he’s the best I’ve played with,” Vandeweghe said. “Steph reminds me of Steve in some ways. I’ve never seen anyone better (than Stephen Curry). The difficulty of some of the shots he makes is incredible, and no matter where he is, he can always get off a good shot.”
Person, aka “The Rifleman,” said Stephen Curry’s quick release sets him apart. “I don’t think there’s ever been anybody better,” he said. “He can shoot the ball quicker than the spot-up guys. That’s unprecedented.”
■ BARRY BEGS TO DIFFER — Of the five players interviewed for the Bleacher Report piece, Hall of Famer Rick Barry — who led the Warriors to their only NBA title in 1975 — was the only one who didn’t crown Stephen Curry king.
“You can’t even do it because you can’t compare guys who played before the 3-point line was introduced,” said Barry, whose last NBA season, in 1979-80, was the league’s first with a 3-point line adopted from the American Basketball Association. “You can only pick from the modern era. I had to learn how to shoot that shot.”
Not that Barry isn’t impressed with Curry’s style.
“It’s the way he does it,” Barry said. “It’s such a quick release with range. And his confidence is off the charts. He’s fun to watch. And he’s made himself into a great basketball player. He’s a shooter, a scorer and a facilitator.”
■ OH BOY, DANNY — Bolstering Curry’s case is Celtics president Danny Ainge, a pretty good shooter in his own right who played on two title teams with Bird and brought Allen to Boston for another championship season.
Without prompting, Ainge recently posted on Twitter that “@StephenCurry30 has to be the best shooter of all time. The percentages along with the variety and the degree of difficulty separate him.”
We’re guessing Bird might want to have a word with Ainge about that.
■ JORDAN OR JAMES? — With LeBron James playing in his fifth straight NBA Finals, the debate rages on about who’s better, him or Michael Jordan.
Asked for his pick on the “Dan Patrick Show,” former Detroit Pistons center Bill Laimbeer didn’t hesitate.
“There’s no question I would take LeBron James,” Laimbeer said. “He can do more. Michael Jordan could score and make big shots and look spectacular at times with wild-flying dunks, but LeBron can get you 18 rebounds. LeBron can get you 15 assists if he chooses to, or he can score 50 if he wanted to. So the triple threat he poses is just phenomenal, and then the size that he’s got — he just physically dominates. It’s impressive.”
Laimbeer and the “Bad Boy” Pistons played Jordan’s Bulls in four straight playoff series, winning the first three, in part by enforcing the physical “Jordan Rules.” But Laimbeer told Patrick that game plan wouldn’t work against James.
“You can’t knock him down,” Laimbeer said. “He’ll knock you down. No one’s ever seen a physical specimen like LeBron — 6 feet 8, 285 (pounds), strong, jumps out of the gym, runs like the wind. Man, I’m in awe of this guy.”
■ KOBE OR LEBRON? — Appearing on Patrick’s show a few days after Laimbeer, Shaquille O’Neal had a much different take. Not only did Shaq say he’d take Jordan over James, but he’d also take Kobe Bryant over James.
“I played with both of them,” Shaq said. “Kobe has that killer instinct. I’ll probably have to go with Kobe. That’s not a knock against LeBron.”
Patrick then asked, “Does LeBron not have that killer instinct?”
“Yes, he does,” Shaq said. “A lot of people try to compare him to Mike (Jordan), when he’s more like Magic ( Johnson). When he needs to take over the game, he will. He’s really, really smart, very intelligent, he lets the game come to him, and he relies on others. Magic relied on others, it worked out for him. LeBron has relied on others these past five years, it’s worked out for him.
“Hopefully it works out for him in the Finals.” COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL