Steph Curry Gets No Respect From Refs - and It's a Problem

The Golden State Warriors made a statement tonight, putting up an 18 point win against the Brooklyn Nets. Steph Curry went off for 37 points on 12/19 shooting and 9/14 from downtown. He made all 4 free throws he shot as well, in spite of getting to the line only a few times. He did, however, hear his name called in a lot of whistles that they probably shouldn’t have been, and it’s an indication of a trend that’s been happening for years now; a trend that needs to get fixed.

Steph Curry had three fouls called against in Brooklyn tonight that were arguably not fouls. The first was a “push-off” on Patty Mills after Mills threw his body to cut off a Steph drive. Mills went down with very little contact (no arm extension) and drew a charge. The second was a blocking foul where Curry’s feet were set barely outside of the restricted area while trying to take a charge on a James Harden layup.

The third was called as Steph, after picking the ball from Kevin Durant, was diving for a steal against Blake Griffin. Steph dove around Griffin, who fell over for due to incidental contact afterwards. This, late in the third, was really the call that brought some attention, as it was Curry’s 4th foul as the Warriors were going on a run to put the game out of reach. Curry had to sit the rest of the third and ended up finishing his 37 in the 4th afterward with the game far out of reach.

It’s been documented for awhile now that Curry gets no love from the refs because he’s not putting on a show to draw fouls. With the new rules that lock up foul-drawing tactics used by some offensive players, Curry is 2nd in scoring behind Kevin Durant despite other superstars (namely Harden and Damian Lillard) struggling mightily to put the ball in the hoop without free throws.

The rule hasn’t worked to perfection, of course, because things like this still happen, but it’s been pretty impressive. Everyone is now having to play on Steph’s level after he’s been getting treated like this both on and off-ball for his career since winning the MVP.

Let’s do some comparison, per Basketball Reference and the NBA’s advanced stats tools on drives. James Harden’s highest-usage season was 2018-2019, where his usage rate clocked in at 40.5%. He averaged 11.0 free throws per game, driving to the hoop 19.6 times per game and shot 4.3 free throws per drive. Steph’s highest-usage season was last year, 2020-2021, and he had a 34.8% usage rate. Drove 10.9 times per game, 6.3 free throws per game, 1.7 free throws per drive. Similar usage rates, big disparities in foul-calling.

Harden also made a lot of money on his shooting fouls, something he was arguably more egregious for. The NBA doesn’t track stats on off-the-dribble shots resulting in free throws, but ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry did in 2019. This shows James Harden as the leader since the 1999-2000 season by almost twice as the second place (Jamal Crawford, all-time leader in four-point plays at 54). Steph appears on the list as well, in 5th place, and he’s the greatest shooter of all time so it makes sense he’d be there because defenders sell out hard on him.

You can look at a million other examples of Steph not getting the calls he should be. There’s even some statistical analysis that’d suggest if Steph got Harden’s calls or used his baiting tactics, he’d average 40 a game (something that was given credence during his 32ppg season last year). Regardless, Steph Curry is the best show in basketball and the current MVP frontrunner: Of course, you wouldn’t know it given he gets the whistle like the refs have something against him.

(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)