The Golden State Warriors have reached the NBA Finals for the sixth time in eight years. Talk about a dynasty! The Warriors’ “Golden Boy” Stephen Curry received the inaugural Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP award in honor of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary, putting up averages of 23.8 points on 43.8% from the field, 7.4 assists, and 6.6 assists per game in the series.
What would a fourth title mean for Stephen Curry’s legacy?
This will be Curry’s sixth Finals appearance of his career, which puts him in the exclusive company of NBA luminaries such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others.
This iteration of the Warriors’ Big Three in Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are older, wiser, and more appreciative of this opportunity to capture their fourth title together after having missed the playoffs the last two seasons due to Thompson’s injuries. He suffered a torn ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors that kept him out all of the 2019-20 season, and then tore his Achilles in a workout prior to the 2020-21 season.
Curry sounded more appreciative of this opportunity to capture another title when he said this after the game:
“This is a blessing, obviously, it’s a team effort to get back, what Draymond said for us. Be optimistic the last two years, and be back where belong, back in the Finals. This is special, our fanbase, to do it in this new building. Everything about it is special. We know this isn’t the ultimate goal, but we know we gotta celebrate this because of all we went through the last two years.”
The Warriors will play the Boston Celtics in the Finals, and Game 1 is set for Thursday, June 2. So, let’s hypothetically say Curry does win a fourth title and win the Finals MVP, what does that mean for his legacy?
For starters, a fourth title would boost Curry’s resume to 4x champion, Finals MVP (assuming he wins it), 2x MVP (becoming the only unanimous MVP in 2016), 8x All-NBA, 8x All-Star, the all-time leader in three-pointers made (3,117 and counting), and in the playoffs (528 and counting) with LeBron James being a distant second with 432!
Curry has also led the league in scoring twice (2016, 2021), and is part of the 50-40-90 club (2016) while also leading the league in steals that same season. He also is the best free-throw shooter in league history with a 90.7% mark for his career.
The 34-year-old is undisputedly by many considered the greatest shooter of all time, and it really isn’t that close. He completely revolutionized the game of basketball with his ability to shoot off the dribble from the logo and his constant motion moving without the ball.
Since he’s not 7’0 tall or an athletic freak, Curry is very relatable for kids all over the world, because he’s not as physically gifted or imposing as most of the top echelon of all-time greats in the NBA’s illustrious history.
So, if Curry wins a fourth title and the Finals MVP, does that make him top 10 all-time, and if so, who do you take off the list? In most top 10 lists, the names you typically see (in no order) are Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and even Hakeem Olajuwon.
To me, those guys are undisputedly over Curry due to their accolades and two-way ability. Some say Curry could replace Bird on that list, but Bird saved the league along with Magic in the 1980s and was a 3x MVP, 3x champion, 2x Finals MVP, and 3x All-Defensive team member. Bird was also a clutch killer who hit many big-time shots that crushed opponents’ hearts.
You could say he can go over Olajuwon, but The Dream is arguably the greatest individual defender ever with two Defensive Player of the Year awards. He was also an offensive athletic force with the footwork of a ballerina.
Olajuwon was a two-time champ, winning it in back-to-back years where he outplayed great centers such as Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, and O’Neal en route to those two titles, in which he captured Finals MVPs in both. Will four titles put Steph over him? That’s hard to consider, because Hakeem was astounding. All the greats are, but when you’re talking about the very best of the best, you nitpick.
Curry is one of the few players who completely changed the game, but him not being a great defender and earning no All-Defensive nods hurts his case to be in the top 10 of all time. That is, unless he gets to five championships and two Finals MVPs, which will definitely put him in the 10 greatest ever discussion without question.
Guys who are safe, and will most likely forever be in the top 10, are Jordan, James, Duncan, Bird, Johnson, Russell, Chamberlain, and Bryant, which makes the top 10 pretty cemented in stone.
In the end, not being in the top 10 ever in NBA history shouldn’t diminish the amazing career of the great Stephen Curry. There’s nothing wrong with being a top 11-15 guy in the history of the league, and that is most likely where Curry will finish his career. This is astounding for a player at his size and physical attributes.
Do you believe Curry will become a top 10 player ever? And if so, who do you knock off the list?