By: Anna Luo

Last Thursday, Stephen Curry led the San Francisco Golden State Warriors to yet another championship win, adding to his already impressive list of accomplishments.

He is a four-time NBA champion, has been named NBA Most Valuable Player twice during the regular season, once for the NBA Finals, been an eight-time NBA All-Star, and has earned dozens of other awards and honors. However, arguably, it’s not necessarily the titles he’s won and records he’s broke that cements his place as one of the best basketball players of all time. In fact, for the past 8 years, Curry hasn’t just dominated the game, he’s revolutionized it.

To begin, in a game where height is commonly regarded as a decisive factor for success, Curry stands out. Though he stands above the average male height at 6’2, compared to his colleagues and opponents, he is immediately at a severe disadvantage. Yet people have watched him outplay and outscore his taller opponents seemingly effortlessly countless times before, making impossible shots that bring the audience leaping from their seats. As Golden State forward Andrew Iguodala told reporters Thursday night, “You’ve never seen a guy his size dominate the league like this and just to put the weight of everything on his shoulders throughout a Finals series.”

Curry is also widely credited for normalizing shooting three-pointers over the course of his career. According to sportskeeda.com, “Between the 2011-12 NBA season and the 2015-16 NBA season, the top 15 teams (by 3PA) averaged 24 three-point attempts per game. Between the 2016-17 and 2020-21 seasons, the top 15 teams averaged 34 three-point attempts per game.” There is a clear increase in three-point attempts following his revolutionary 2015-2016 season where he led the Warriors to their first championship in 40 years, signifying his influence on the game. Not only has he shown everyone that he can consistently make farther and tougher shots, but he has also inspired others to try and do the same.

Stephen Curry has continuously defied expectations, changing the game and paving the way for a new generation in the process. In the past eight years, Curry has proved to be one of a kind, and his legacy will undoubtedly live on long after he has left the courts.

Sources:

1. https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/stephen-curry-nba-s-3-point-revolution

2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/06/18/steph-curry-legacy-nba-finals-mvp/