Will Stephen Curry eclipse even the great Lebron James?
Without a doubt, Golden State Warriors owe their recent successes to Stephen Curry’s takeover of the NBA.
From a regular player, Curry has been transformed into a superstar point guard, who is ready to beat LeBron James for the title of the best player in the league. Just a couple of years ago, everyone used to admire James’ displays, but Curry is now the cynosure of all.
Curry has raised his figures significantly. In Golden State’s 20-0, his 32 points per game is his best scoring execution in the regular season of the NBA by far in his whole career – in 2013/14 he averaged 24.
Apart from that, the 27-year-old MVP has more rebounds than ever (5.1 per game), and steals (2.4). He shoots more field goals (20.2) and three pointers (11.1) and scores more (10.6 – 5.1, respectively). His made/attempted free throws are also up, comparing to the previous years (5.8/6.2).
He has reduced his assists though (6, while in 2013/14 he had 8.5) and that can lead to the conclusion that this term, Curry has a more executive than creative role. However, this doesn’t mean that Curry isn’t a good creator anymore. He remains a good creator, just a little less in numbers. Summarizing, Curry is now a scoring machine.
After Warriors’ impressive run, which seems endless and it is difficult to predict when it will stop, Curry is making the fans of the NBA direct their focus on him and his side rather than Lebron James.
Everybody is talking about Curry’s achievements and that is normal because time passes and the day will come when Lebron will not be the same, either in the near or in the distant future.
That’s how things are. One day you exist, the next you don’t exist and fame functions this way. The point is to write history. Then, you will be forever memorized and Curry with Golden State have already succeeded in that since last year.
Lebron did it a few years ago, with Miami Heat, but has the challenge to repeat it with his beloved team, Cleveland Cavaliers. The question is whether Warriors or Curry can carry on at this level for many years, just like Lebron and many teams of the NBA, such as the San Antonio Spurs.
Curry’s and James’ numbers in assists, steals and rebounds are similar, but in scoring this year, Curry is much better than Lebron (32 ppg / 25.6 ppg). Their biggest difference though is what their teams do.
Golden State continues to impress from last year, after the title, now with the NBA record start, while Cleveland Cavaliers look a terrestrial team in front of the Champions, but still above most of the others.
Of course, the fact that the Cavs are losing more games this spell than Warriors can be proved more beneficial to the first, but as things are right now, Curry is the winner, as the protagonist in the NBA. The games between the two teams can still reveal a lot.
Comparing their careers in the best basketball league on earth, Lebron is winning, but this season, Curry surpasses him in popularity. To continue that, Curry must have duration in his great performances, not just a period of form and then back to normal.
Only this way, kings are made and in this, LeBron is dominant. From what Curry shows, one can understand that he is here to stay, and that he has raised his game to a higher level, which scarily, might continue to climb.
One thing is for sure: Curry is now a comparable figure to LeBron, although stylistically, they’re at different ends of the spectrum. Both are excellent and their aura is enough to make NBA fans love them the same, but if there was a trophy given at this moment, for individual displays, then Curry would win it.
Lebron is superb too, but since last year’s finals, Curry is starting to gain more and more fame and is reaching Lebron’s level, being close to exceed it. Lebron will not always be the king of the NBA and Curry is the next best thing, the one that can replace him in this characterization, as things show, quite soon.