Getty Former Golden State Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas is introduced before a BIG3 game in 2021.
If Stephen Curry really had any kind of monkey on his back, the Golden State Warriors star definitely shook it with his incredible NBA Finals performance. By logging a 31-6-5 line and nailing 44% of his triples, Curry was finally able to secure that elusive Finals MVP trophy while netting championship ring No. 4.
Consequently, the Dubs cornerstone has gained some traction in the GOAT debate, sneaking his name into conversations that were formerly the domain of Michael Jordan and LeBron James alone.
As relayed by KRON4 in June, a BetOnline research project revealed that Curry was the player most namechecked via Twitter as the GOAT in a whopping eight US states — Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and even Virginia. The other 42 states were about a 50-50 split between His Airness and LBJ.
Nevertheless, one prominent former Warrior remains skeptical that Steph will ever get his just due in the GOAT debate.
Arenas Weighs In
During a recently-clipped interview with Vladimir Lyubovny, retired ex-Warrior and California kid Gilbert Arenas was asked whether Curry’s recent exploits had truly altered the GOAT debate. Unfortunately, the three-time All-Star (with the Washington Wizards) doesn’t envision Steph getting the respect he deserves.
“He’s gonna always be slighted because he’s little,” Arenas laughed. “It’s like we have this ideal of what a GOAT is supposed to be, 6-6 and above. And when it comes to the smaller guys, you have to do so much more to get the same credit.”
Arenas expounded: “You gotta remember — he’s not a highlight reel when it comes to jumping and dunking and all this aerial stuff. He’s a floor general. When you do a highlight reel and you have all the GOATs, you got one that’s just purely mesmerizing on shots.”
He went on to say that playing above the rim is something that’s ingrained in fans and ballers alike from a young age. So, when the GOAT topic is raised, inevitably, “Curry goes last because he ain’t dunking.”
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Steph’s Numbers Don’t Lie
Arenas is right when he says Steph’s track record as a dunker leaves something to be desired. Across 826 regular-season games and 134 playoff bouts, Curry has accrued all of 29 total dunks. His other numbers speak volumes about his GOAT candidacy, though.
Curry is the NBA’s all-time leader in career three-point field goals (3,117) and free throw percentage (90.8), while his true shooting percentage (62.4) ranks fifth all-time. Meanwhile, his career offensive box plus/minus average of 6.1 ranks fourth in league history.
If you factor in multiple areas of his stat line, though, his statistical resume grows even more impressive.
Only four players in the Association’s annals have combined career averages matching or exceeding 24.0 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game — LeBron, Larry Bird, James Harden and Steph. And of that group, none come close to matching Steph’s career effective field-goal percentage of 58.1.
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