2014-15 NBA MVP Steph Curry has that shooting star quality to his game that only a few of the true greats of the league have ever approached. Likely the most accurate and deadly pure shooter to every grace an NBA court, there is really no player in the annals of the game that combines sharpshooting, passing and on/off-court intangibles quite like Curry.
However, we thought we'd break things down a bit in (perhaps futile) hopes of finding the three players in NBA history who provide the closest on-court matches to Steph Curry in NBA history.
(Note: We were going to add Dell Curry to this list, but we didn't want to cheat.)
3. Reggie Miller
This one is a bit of a stretch based on size difference (Miller is 6-7, Curry is 6-3), position (shooting guard to point guard) and Miller's tendency to become an on-ball black hole sometimes, Miller is the closest signpost we have to Curry's unreal ability to drain clutch triple after clutch triple regardless of who's contesting them.
In his mid-90s heyday, there was no shooter in the NBA who struck more fear in opposing coaches and players than Miller whether he was rolling open off of screens or hitting rhythm jumpers from all over. His ability to create a split second's worth of separation to nail threes that no else dared even to attempt is right on the Curry money.
You're never going to mistake Miller for Curry when you watch game tapes, but there's a reason why it was the infamous Indiana agitator whom Steph outdistanced for the record of most threes drilled in a single postseason.
2. Ray Allen
Although Allen is/was actually a shooting guard who fluctuated back and forth from automatic downtown threat to devastating mid-range marksman, but it's his picture perfect shooting stroke and all-around feel for the game that makes him a worthwhile doppelganger for Curry.
Steph's a more active on-ball facilitator and less apt to hang around for the spot-up, but there are striking similarities including free throw shooting, spacing potential and general professionalism. You always had to account for Allen no matter if he was (figuratively) picking his nose in the backcourt or rolling into his sweet spots on the perimeter. That's the same with Curry.
1. Steve Nash
Nash was never a volume 3-point shooter of Curry's ilk even in his run-and-gun Suns heyday, hitting an apex of 4.9 threes attempted in 2007-08 compared to Curry's 8.1 attempts per contest in 2014-15. However, Nash's 42.8% career percentage from downtown is comparable to that of Curry's 44%, provided that you strike some of his late-career shooting woes off the record.
Both are/were undersized, 6-3 guards with a wizard's knack for facilitating ball movement and finding open shooters through the tightest of passing windows. Nash was never the scorer that Curry is or will be, but he's the closest thing we have to a Curry reference point at this point and time in NBA history.
Follow our Golden State Warriors team page for the latest Warriors news!
Back to the Golden State Warriors Newsfeed