Getty Stephen Curry and LeBron James exchange words during the 2018 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
For a player who is arguably in the GOAT conversation, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry has endured an inordinate amount of criticism, doubt and outright hate from national pundits. For his part, Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless has seemingly made slamming Steph his second job.
When the Dubs star finally got the NBA Finals MVP monkey off his back, rather than give Curry his flowers, Bayless took to Twitter to say this:
“Well, Steph finally won his first Finals MVP … against the Boston Frauds.”
And this:
“Steph needed KD to lift him past LeBron … but the Celtics literally handed him these two trophies.”
For all the Steph slander he’s levied over the years, though, Bayless may still be playing second fiddle to ESPN’s Bomani Jones, who has made some particularly wild statements about the baller. More recently, though, Jones looks to have called a foul on himself for his previous Curry commentary.
Jones Fesses Up on Steph Curry’s Place in the NBA Hierarchy
Jones has called Curry’s status as one of the league’s elite players and an all-time great into question on multiple occasions. As recently as 2020, the analyst couldn’t even bring himself to refer to Steph — who was then a six-time All-Star and three-time champ — as a superstar.
“If you tell me that you have Kevin Durant, you have a chance to win the championship. If you tell me you have Kawhi Leonard, my immediate response is, ‘You have a chance to win a championship.’ And the same with LeBron [James and Giannis Antetokounmpo]. You tell me you got Steph — I want you to tell me a little bit more,” he said on his podcast, via NBC Sports Bay Area.
Added Jones: “It’s hard to explain what it is with Steph, but Steph is somehow like the greatest system player of all time. And I’m not saying that to shade him. But you are not going 1-4 flat and being like, ‘Get us a bucket.'”
During a Wednesday appearance on 95.7 The Game‘s Morning Roast with Bonta & Shasky, however, Jones finally had his “Come to Steph” moment.
“Any measure of skepticism that I had had about Steph Curry at various points – he just wiped his ass with every single one of them and put it right in my face, like, ‘Hey smell that,’” Jones said. “That’s what it was last year.”
Has Steph Passed Up LeBron?
In addition to finally accepting Steph as a superstar, Jones is also finding it increasingly difficult to argue against those that would take the Warriors star over LeBron James. And if Curry can add another championship ring to his collection, well…
“If Steph goes and wins a championship this year, and somebody says, ‘He had a better career than LeBron James,‘ what’s your argument against it?” Jones said. “I’m not sure I have the answer for that definitively. I’m saying, if I’m talking strictly in fairness, if he is five-time NBA champion Steph Curry who was responsible and the centerpiece of the best dynastic sort of run of basketball that I think we’ve seen post-Michael Jordan — if that happens — what can you say about the dude?
“How can you say somebody else is the player of his era? That becomes a fascinating question. He’s that dude. Period.”