Steph Curry is having an all-time great season. The reigning MVP has led his Golden State Warriors to a hot 21-0 start just months removed from winning the championship. Curry is doing this while putting up phenomenal stats and looking like the clear best player in the league.
Legendary point guard and current Warriors’ consultant Steve Nash has high praise for Curry, calling his season the next ‘evolution’ of basketball (via the Toronto Star):
It looks easy, but the shots he takes are insane. The speed, range, dexterity, going left, going right, leaning, fading. It feels like the possibilities are limitless. I feel like I could shoot the ball in as wide an array of ways as anybody, but he’s been able to do it with more range and more speed. It’s remarkable. It’s the evolution of the game. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anybody be able to do this […] It’s a leap. When you take all factors in, even without the accuracy, just to be able to take those shots at an acceptable rate is itself an evolution. We’ve had a lot of gunslingers, a lot of volume shooters. but to take the shots he takes, even without the accuracy, is a revolution. And then, the accuracy: it’s remarkable.
Curry is certainly doing things that we have never seen before. The combination of volume shooting and unprecedented efficiency is truly fascinating. However, to call this method of play an ‘evolution’ is to assume that we will see more players do this in the future. I’m not entirely sure that’s plausible. The things that Curry is doing are so remarkable and difficult to imitate. Of course, we will probably see more players attempt to play in the same mold in the future as they grow up watching the Warriors’ star play. However, it is very questionable if anyone else can actually sustain that kind of play.
