OAKLAND–In 2016, the Golden State Warriors won 73 games and star point guard Steph Curry became the first unanimous Most Valuable Player in NBA history.
Curry’s skill set is unlike anything the sport has ever seen, largely due to his shooting skills that have helped him become the most potent three-point marksman in the game. But what makes Curry truly special, according to his head coach, Steve Kerr, is that Curry’s game is constantly evolving.
On Thursday afternoon, Kerr dedicated five minutes to discussing Curry’s development as a player, his importance to the Warriors’ franchise, and his place in the context of modern basketball. Kerr did not hold back, and offered what is perhaps his most glowing praise to date of Golden State’s homegrown star.
“I think Steph is at his absolute peak right now,” Kerr said. “Physically, emotionally, this is probably as good as he’s ever going to be this year. I think he’s better now than he was last year and the year before and that’s saying something. He is the most impactful offensive player in terms of what he does to the defense, maybe ever. There’s guys obviously, Michael Jordan impacted things, but the way he plays puts the fear of God into defenses like nobody I’ve ever seen.”
Kerr played alongside Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls, so when he speaks about the player most consider the greatest to ever step on a court, his words carry weight. The fourth-year head coach said that Curry’s skill set is transcendent on the floor, and that while he’s clearly the most gifted offensive player in the game at the moment, what Curry is able to do on the defensive end is often overlooked.
At 29 years old and two seasons removed from his unanimous MVP honors, Curry could be in for the best season of his career.
“It’s gravity. Nobody has been able to shoot off the dribble from 35 feet in a normal setting, but he does that which changes the entire game,” Kerr said. “So everything we do revolves around Steph. You can talk about where he stands in terms of the best players in the league. He’s obviously one of the best. By that standard, he is the best. If you want to say, who affects the game the most offensively? Steph is the best player in the NBA. But there’s different ways of measuring that stuff. From a two-way standpoint, if you like the two-way guys, maybe it’s Kawhi Leonard, maybe it’s KD or LeBron because they’re bigger and stronger and can protect the rim. Steph is an excellent defender, though. He does not get the credit he deserves. There’s a lot of guys in the playoffs who are great one-way guys. Steph, he’s a two-way player. He gets his hands on passes, he deflects the ball and all you have to do is look at the impact he makes every time he’s on the floor for us to know that everything we do, everything we run offensively, the other guys’ ability to make plays, Shaun, Andre, Draymond, it all starts with Steph’s gravity.”
Kerr elaborated on what Curry’s two-way abilities mean to the Warriors by discussing his importance within the context of Golden State’s offensive system. On his own, Kerr sees Curry as a brilliant talent who could demand the ball more frequently, but because he doesn’t, Kerr said the Warriors are better off.
“What’s amazing about Steph is what continues to add to all of that is his personal character and his unselfishness and the way he approaches the game,” Kerr said. “Like his usage rate is like maybe 30th in the league, I don’t know exactly, but he could easily be like, ‘Why don’t I have the ball?’ I’m the best offensive player in the history of the game.’ We could run a high screen every time but he understands the power of the group and he understands Shaun and Andre and Draymond and Zaza are all great passers and as a group, collectively, we are a better team when everybody is sharing. So that’s what makes Steph amazing. I’ve said it many times. He reminds me so much of Tim Duncan with that incredible package of skill, arrogance and humility. It’s a weird combination. But it makes sense and the result is this powerful force that drives our entire organization.”
Though Curry’s ability to thrive within the Warriors’ offense has had a ripple-effect throughout the league, Kerr actually credits Steve Nash with paving the way for Curry’s style of play to become a featured part of an NBA system. Kerr said that Curry’s skill set has evolved from the way Nash played, but that Nash played the point guard position with a revolutionary style that ushered in a wave of more creative, shooting-conscious guards.
“I think so. The way I kind of look at it, I was in Phoenix so I think Nash, Steve Nash changed the way point guards saw the game,” Kerr said. “Before Nash, we had a lot of traditional point guards like John Stockton who were amazing, but more like point A to point B execution-wise. When Nash came in, it was like this freestyle guy who would see plays and create plays and still shoot threes and Steph, I’ve talked to Nash about this since he’s here a lot. Steph is like Nash on steroids. He’s faster and quicker and he’s shooting from 35-feet instead of 25-feet so I think Steph has really followed in Nash’s footsteps and really taken it to another level. But you’re seeing a lot of the young guards shooting from deeper. Some shouldn’t be, but you see teams like Houston now. They’re saying, we’re going to space the floor to three feet beyond the three-point line because that’s even harder to guard and you never thought you’d see that but I think Steph has played a role in that. So guys are actually practicing deeper shots and I think Steph is making an enormous impact on the game and he’s changing the game but I do think it’s more than the byproduct or continuation of Nash and the way the league changed rules and opened up with four men being able to shoot so you’ve got more space to work with on the floor.”