The disrespect towards Stephen Curry just keeps coming.

It feels like analysts are constantly coming up with takes about all the flaws in his game and explaining why he is so overrated. The newest one is courtesy of Bomani Jones on his podcast, “The Right Time.” In an episode released on Thursday, Jul. 23, Jones talked to Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill about Curry. During the course of the discussion, Jones suggested that Curry needs a very specific environment around him to excel and cannot score in isolation. In the portion of Jones’ argument that is receiving the most attention, Jones referred to Curry as “the greatest system player of all time.”

To be fair to Jones, he walked back his comments to a certain extent in an appearance on JJ Redick’s podcast the following day, admitting that he has trouble evaluating Curry’s greatness due to how different he is from so many other Hall of Fame-level players. But the sentiment is a fairly common one throughout the world of basketball talk. From Kendrick Perkins to Jay Williams and others, pundits regularly find ways to criticize Curry, and the idea that he only fits in a certain system is one we’ve heard before.

It’s a point that’s technically true, but wildly misleading. Curry does not need a system created around him. He is the system itself.

For the first few years of his career, Curry was seen as a good player who wasn’t able to completely separate himself from his fellow backcourt mate Monta Ellis. Over time, it became clear that the Warriors couldn’t have two guards who were great offensive players but bad defensive players in the same starting lineup. One of them would have to go, and Ellis was sent to the Milwaukee Bucks — making it clear that the Warriors were choosing to build around Curry.

In the two seasons that followed, Curry’s teammates had a simple directive — do whatever was needed to get Curry the ball. Pass him the ball in halfcourt sets. Pass him the ball in transition. Set screens for him on the ball. Set screens for him off the ball. When he has the ball, clear out and let him isolate. The specific instruction changed depending on the situation, but the message was obvious: it was Curry’s team, and everyone else was going to go along with that.

The next year, even during a magical championship season that saw a number of other Warriors evolve into high-caliber players, everything was still built around Curry. His ability to shoot from anywhere at any time, pass out of double teams, handle the ball, drive, finish around the rim and navigate fastbreaks made almost everything happen on offense.

As Golden State grew into a dynasty, everything still ran through Curry. When they put together the best regular season in NBA history, it was fueled by Curry being the most dominant player on the team and arguably in the league. When Kevin Durant joined the Warriors the following year, it was still largely Curry’s team. As the Warriors won two titles in Durant’s three seasons with the team, even though Durant may have been the better player at times, Curry was more valuable. The Warriors did far better with Curry on the floor and Durant off than they did when it was the other way around. Even when Durant was leading the team in scoring, and even when Curry would have bad games, it was clear that the defensive attention given to Curry by opponents was a massive reason that Durant got the scoring opportunities he did. Regardless of the rest of the roster, Curry made Golden State’s empire happen far more than any other individual.

It wasn’t just in the success and the accolades that this shines through. It’s evident in how the Warriors played the game. Yes, the coaching staff deserves some credit. Yes, the front office deserves some credit. And yes, the Warriors who played alongside Curry deserve some credit. But Curry is the main reason for all of it. An offensive system centered around ball movement and moving without the ball? An emphasis on shooting open threes instead of contested twos? Deliberate efforts to push the pace and create fastbreaks and transition opportunities as often as possible? All of that is Curry’s system. Not a system created for him. A system created by him, purely as a byproduct of the way he excels on the court.

A number of notable basketball figures have tossed out negative opinions about Stephen Curry, perhaps unable to deal with the ways he has changed the NBA and the game of basketball. As a result, he has become the subject of a number of harsh descriptors, many of which are inaccurate. But to describe him as a “system player” is particularly absurd. Simply put, it ignores the reality of his role in forming and creating that very system.