The Evolution of the NBA: Jordan, Kobe, and Stephen Curry

Let’s just get this out of the way: Stephen “The System” Curry could easily breach the top 10 players in NBA history with an MVP and a title this season. The trophy case just keeps getting bigger. Realistically, if he had a Finals MVP or two (which he would deserve, both in 2015 and 2018), you could make the case right now.

But at 33 years old, what Steph is doing is something we’ve only seen from a couple guys before. He’s the oldest to win an NBA scoring title, averaging 32 points per game, since Michael Jordan did it at age 35. He could win a second one this season if the trends hold up. He could become the third-oldest NBA MVP at all time if he wins the award this year since Karl Malone in 1997.

If he comes out on top this season with a championship and an MVP, this could be a different conversation. He wins maybe another title, and possibly as an added bonus, makes an all-defensive team, he could very well be top 5 all time. If he’s the greatest point guard to ever play the game, and Magic is included in plenty of top 10s, it’d logically put him there already, but the variance on where Johnson falls all time is too great to make that claim… for now.

But there’s another thing Steph Curry has which separates him from a lot of other players all-time, and because he doesn’t usually get called for technical fouls like he was yesterday against the Clippers, he doesn’t get to show it off much.

Rest assured, it’s there.

This has actually been a pretty common trend this past season, to the point where some Warriors fans have already begun to comment on it. Steph Curry, as nice of a guy as he is and as great a team player as he is, definitely has that edge to him that very few players have. And because he does it while being one of the game’s best players, who changed the way basketball is played forever, he gets to join some elite company.

Just as Michael Jordan moved the game from the post to midrange while winning a 5th MVP (oh, and 10 scoring titles, as if that’s a big deal), Stephen Curry moved the midrange to the three-point line. His influence on the game has inspired a whole generation of players who are favoring perimeter separation moves over the backdown, turn-around jumpers of the past.

The success of the Warriors has led to developments in basketball that favor high-volume shooting and scoring, with additional emphasis on efficiency, in order to try and replicate specifically what Curry has done (not to diminish what all his teammates, namely Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, have accomplished as well).

Make no mistake when you see it, that is Curry’s work out there.

The influence of the game that Curry has is only mirrored in two places, most commonly: Michael Jordan, and the late great Kobe Bryant. Both were multiple time champions, MVPs, perennial top-level scorers, and game-changers. While they were both noted for their defensive prowess as well, and Steph isn’t quite there, they inspired generations of players that came after them, much like Curry has done to the league today. And as he showed against the Clippers, as he’s shown through his entire career, he’s got the instinct to him that makes him a nuclear closer when it comes time to win.

While LeBron James certainly deserves his title as the 2nd greatest of all time, he hasn’t and doesn’t have the impact nor the scoring talents of these three guys. It’s not question that there’s been long stretches of times when LeBron’s been the best in the league, but while his passing acumen and basketball IQ is the stuff of legends, he’s not in the same skill category when it comes to putting the rock through the hoop. His longevity could have him at over 40,000 points, but he suffers from just having better scorers live through his career.

Jordan, Kobe, Steph. That’s the evolution of the league, and the evolution of basketball. Some of the most loved and most hated players of their times. Multiple-time champions, multiple-time MVPs, killer instincts that can be set off by as much as a technical foul for getting a little too loud, global influences for the direction of the sport. Let’s make sure they get their respect while we can still appreciate the greatness.

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