Getty/Ezra Shaw CJ McCollum of the Portland Blazers makes his move against Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Back in the day, big men in the NBA dominated the league. Greats like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem-Abdul Jabber, and Shaquille O’Neal are considered to be transcendent stars that changed how the league was moving forward.
With the Golden State Warriors changing the way the game has been played, Stephen Curry is the main focus on how the entire league now is so heavily driven to shoot threes.
Shaq changed the way the referees called the block and charge call. He completely demolished opponents around the rim, and the league had to figure out how to call more blocking calls because O’Neal was changing the game.
Curry was the same way with how he shot the three. Never before would teams be so liberal to allow their players to shoot as many threes as Curry did. With how accurate he was with his shooting, the Warriors were comfortable enough to let him unleash chaos upon the league from 30 feet and beyond.
CJ McCollum Compares Warriors Steph Curry to the Galaxy
During the July 15 summer league game for the Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum talked about the difficulty of guarding Steph Curry.
“You have to throw different bodies at him; this isn’t a guy you can just guard with one person,” McCollum said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “He’s a galaxy, he’s a planet, he’s a solar system. Everything revolves around him.”
While McCollum played for Portland in his first eight and half seasons, he has had countless battles against Curry throughout his career.
Additionally, McCollum talks about how the Warriors’ system allows Curry to thrive, the relentless stamina that he has built over the years, and his ability to force defenses to account for him out to halfcourt. Besides Curry, no team has ever had to worry about players from out towards halfcourt.
Joe Lacob Believes Steph Curry Won’t Be Falling Off Anytime Soon
With how phenomenon Curry has already been in his prime, it will be interesting to know how much better he can get, and how long he can stay at this level.
On the Point Forward podcast hosted by Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, Warriors owner Joe Lacob talked about how sustainable the team and Curry could keep up their success.
“I think he’s got a number of years to go,” Lacob said. “And I think, hopefully, we’re gonna be better next year. These young guys will be better. Steph’s still got it. I don’t see him going off a cliff. Sorry to the rest of the league. I don’t see him getting any worse… This guy is so well-conditioned, it’s unbelievable.”
Shooters tend to have longer careers than players who rely on their athleticism. When athletic players get older, they must learn to adapt their game to be more effective further away from the basket. On the other hand, shooters like Curry do not have to worry about this. Curry’s shooting touch is natural and instead focused his game to bulk up more and get to such a high level of endurance.