Does Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers still think the Golden State Warriors are lucky?
Insofar as employing Stephen Curry is lucky, yes.
So, yes.
ESPN.com picked the brains of Rivers, New York Knicks legend Walt Clyde Frazier, Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown and Miami Heat big man Chris Bosh to see where they would rank certain players on the all-time scale. The subject of Curry, whom ESPN already ranked in the top 25, naturally came up, at which point Rivers delivered some heavy-hitting platitudes:
Rivers: It’s tough for me to rank guys now because I always say, ‘Let them finish their careers.’ But if you go with where he is right now and the way he’s playing, he’s going to be in the top 5 or so. What he’s doing has never been done before. The shots he’s taking and making, the way he’s passing — and for me, it’s prettier to watch than Michael. If I have to watch a style of play, I want shooting.
Curry does everything, and it’s flashy and cool to watch. If he continues on this pace for five or six more years, I think he could be top 5. What he’s doing right now has never been done. No one shoots the ball off the dribble.
This is crazy.
It’s even crazier that it’s not more crazy.
Some people are weirded out by Stephen Curry. They’re uncomfortable. They can’t admit he’s already an all-time great, as if shooting threes in volume—efficiently, mind you—somehow curbs his reputation or makes him a glorified one-trick pony.
But Stephen Curry is an all-time great. He plays with flash, hoards ridiculous stat lines, makes the most of Golden State’s identity and, top to bottom, is one of the most unique players in league history.
He still has a lot of basketball left to play, but if he stays on his current arc, headlining a Warriors dynasty with a play style and shot selection unique to only him, Doc Rivers’ thoughts will soon become a widely accepted, hardly challenged fact.
