Prime Steve Nash vs. Current Steph Curry

[uncleduck13]

Sorry guys i realized i posted that in the wrong section. So yeah, I was watching the GSW-LAL game tonight & I started thinking to myself "Stephen is looking more & more like Steve Nash each game"

So question : since both have similar skill sets, who do you think is the better player & which would you take to build a team around?

[blazersfan52]

I go with Nash, just watching his passing is insane no looks and the like, and his shooting was pretty good, I can't look at the shooting percentages and such right now so can't compare them on shooting, I not looking at anything an tending toward leaning towards Curry but under could easily change I think they are really close in that aspect, but I think in passing that Nash just dominates Curry, so overall I'm going with Nash.

Sent from my Event using RealGM Forums mobile app

[DirtyDez]

Prime Nash easily but I think Steph has a good chance to be better all time. Steve would just get the most out of everyone. So many guys had a career years and overachieved with him.

Like if you were to put 06' or 07' Nash on the Warriors I think they'd be better offensively. His passing and decision-making is > Curry's right now...

[therealbig3]

Nash for sure. Curry is a fantastic scorer, because of how insane of a shooter he is off the dribble, and he's a very good passer, but Nash is one of the greatest floor generals of all time. I don't think Curry sees the court and reads defenses the way Nash does...he's just an unreal shooter, and that's still good enough to be a superstar, but it's not quite good enough to be on Nash's level.

[JimmyTD3]

I don't think this is a fair comparison....Curry is arguably top-5 player in the league but prime Nash is pretty crazy

[BlackIce]

Prime Nash easily but I think Steph has a good chance to be better all time. Steve would just get the most out of everyone. So many guys had a career years and overachieved with him.

Like if you were to put 06' or 07' Nash on the Warriors I think they'd be better offensively. His passing and decision-making is > Curry's right now...

Curry is a good passer, but not on the level of Nash in his prime. The thing that separates them is Curry's willingness to shoot more. Nash reminds me of Calderon (stylistically) a bit in that they are deadeye shooters who were unbelievably unselfish. Curry is more similar to Durant in that they are such dangerous scoring threats with range from 30 feet that they attract doubles and triples leading to easy drop off passes. Nash was great because he was an alltime great passer and an elite shooter. Curry is a good passer and that could end up being the GOAT pure shooter with more of a scorers mentality. Nash was incredibly durable in PHX though, Curry has to put together a few more 82 game seasons.

[Dr Spaceman]

Are we even sure that Curry is a better shooter than peak Nash? Or is he just less restrained?

Bballref shows Nash was a higher % shooter from literally every spot on the floor, especially from 10 feet in, where it's not even close.

It seems that this argument would hinge on Curry being the more effective scorer, but I'm not even sure of that.

[Doctor MJ]

Are we even sure that Curry is a better shooter than peak Nash? Or is he just less restrained?

Bballref shows Nash was a higher % shooter from literally every spot on the floor, especially from 10 feet in, where it's not even close.

It seems that this argument would hinge on Curry being the more effective scorer, but I'm not even sure of that.

This is a good point actually. I would probably side with Curry simply because of how good he is at shooting the 3, but Nash was the best in the game at hitting efficiently from everywhere inside the 3 too. Meaning: When you looked at his shot distribution it had less dependence on any one sweet spot on the court than anyone else (one of the Sloan Conference guys found this in a study, Ray Allen was 2nd I believe).

This is another way really of saying that Nash's decision making both as a passer and as a guy choosing how he'll shoot is superior to Curry while Curry's actual shooting stroke is sweeter.

[OnePostLegend]

Are we even sure that Curry is a better shooter than peak Nash? Or is he just less restrained?

Bballref shows Nash was a higher % shooter from literally every spot on the floor, especially from 10 feet in, where it's not even close.

It seems that this argument would hinge on Curry being the more effective scorer, but I'm not even sure of that.

I think the reason Nash has higher percentages is that he's less restrained -- restrained by team role, temperament and a slower release. It's possible that Nash is a better "pure" shooter i.e., give each of them 10,000 open shots and see who makes more, but Curry is the more versatile shooter.

I'd choose Nash for now (Curry simply can't match the impact Nash had on an offense), but people are underestimating Curry's passing ability. He's not merely a "good passer." His court vision and technical ability, while not on Nash's level, might be topped only by Chris Paul, LeBron and Rubio in today's NBA.

I also think Curry should get some credit for being a clearly better defender than Nash, but that's a more nebulous discussion to have.

[Woodsanity]

As a passer Nash is better than Curry by a huge margin. Not even close for me.

[BlackIce]

Are we even sure that Curry is a better shooter than peak Nash? Or is he just less restrained?

Bballref shows Nash was a higher % shooter from literally every spot on the floor, especially from 10 feet in, where it's not even close.

It seems that this argument would hinge on Curry being the more effective scorer, but I'm not even sure of that.

This is a good point actually. I would probably side with Curry simply because of how good he is at shooting the 3, but Nash was the best in the game at hitting efficiently from everywhere inside the 3 too. Meaning: When you looked at his shot distribution it had less dependence on any one sweet spot on the court than anyone else (one of the Sloan Conference guys found this in a study, Ray Allen was 2nd I believe).

This is another way really of saying that Nash's decision making both as a passer and as a guy choosing how he'll shoot is superior to Curry while Curry's actual shooting stroke is sweeter.

Teams were more willing to dare Nash to shoot (pick your poison really) while teams are looking to take away Curry's shot and force him to facilitate, the one thing advanced metrics can't really measure yet is coverage and defensive attention. Not only how often a guy sees a double or triple team but how he is being guarded.

[Basketballefan]

Prime Nash easily but I think Steph has a good chance to be better all time. Steve would just get the most out of everyone. So many guys had a career years and overachieved with him.

Like if you were to put 06' or 07' Nash on the Warriors I think they'd be better offensively. His passing and decision-making is > Curry's right now...

I agree it's nash easily but i don't agree Curry has a good chance to pass nash all time, Nash is easily a top 30 player in my eyes and i don't see curry accomplishing enough to even be close to the top 30.

[OnePostLegend]

Prime Nash easily but I think Steph has a good chance to be better all time. Steve would just get the most out of everyone. So many guys had a career years and overachieved with him.

Like if you were to put 06' or 07' Nash on the Warriors I think they'd be better offensively. His passing and decision-making is > Curry's right now...

I agree it's nash easily but i don't agree Curry has a good chance to pass nash all time, Nash is easily a top 30 player in my eyes and i don't see curry accomplishing enough to even be close to the top 30.

The thing is, Nash wasn't even an all-star level player until he was 26 or so. This is Curry's age 25 season, and he's been an all-star caliber player since he was 22. There's really no telling how much better he can get, especially since his ankle woes seem to have been curtailed by switching from Nike to Under Armour.

[Basketballefan]

Prime Nash easily but I think Steph has a good chance to be better all time. Steve would just get the most out of everyone. So many guys had a career years and overachieved with him.

Like if you were to put 06' or 07' Nash on the Warriors I think they'd be better offensively. His passing and decision-making is > Curry's right now...

I agree it's nash easily but i don't agree Curry has a good chance to pass nash all time, Nash is easily a top 30 player in my eyes and i don't see curry accomplishing enough to even be close to the top 30.

The thing is, Nash wasn't even an all-star level player until he was 26 or so. This is Curry's age 25 season, and he's been an all-star caliber player since he was 22. There's really no telling how much better he can get, especially since his ankle woes seem to have been curtailed by switching from Nike to Under Armour.

While that my be true it's important to understand that it's rare for a player to peak at age 31-33 like nash did at least for guard anyway. And i don't think curry was all star caliber until just last year where he got snubbed. Curry is now 26 by the way.

[Doctor MJ]

Teams were more willing to dare Nash to shoot (pick your poison really) while teams are looking to take away Curry's shot and force him to facilitate, the one thing advanced metrics can't really measure yet is coverage and defensive attention. Not only how often a guy sees a double or triple team but how he is being guarded.

I think that's a great point. I do think though that also illustrates Nash's offensive edge more clearly as the "dare to shoot" tactic was tried at its most extreme in 2005 and Nash showed he could drop 40 on you if you did that. For the next half decade plus teams basically just took it as a given that there was no way to stop him and so you simply had to execute like crazy on the other end of the floor to win. That's the place that Curry should strive to get to: Where there simply is no good option against him.

[DirtyDez]

Prime Nash easily but I think Steph has a good chance to be better all time. Steve would just get the most out of everyone. So many guys had a career years and overachieved with him.

Like if you were to put 06' or 07' Nash on the Warriors I think they'd be better offensively. His passing and decision-making is > Curry's right now...

Curry is a good passer, but not on the level of Nash in his prime. The thing that separates them is Curry's willingness to shoot more. Nash reminds me of Calderon (stylistically) a bit in that they are deadeye shooters who were unbelievably unselfish. Curry is more similar to Durant in that they are such dangerous scoring threats with range from 30 feet that they attract doubles and triples leading to easy drop off passes. Nash was great because he was an alltime great passer and an elite shooter. Curry is a good passer and that could end up being the GOAT pure shooter with more of a scorers mentality. Nash was incredibly durable in PHX though, Curry has to put together a few more 82 game seasons.

I agree with all of this but the age factor for me is important and Steph's style of play will help his longevity. Like Nash I see Curry making the playoffs pretty much every year so he he'll have lots of chances to cement his postseason legacy.

[The Infamous1]

I agree it's nash easily but i don't agree Curry has a good chance to pass nash all time, Nash is easily a top 30 player in my eyes and i don't see curry accomplishing enough to even be close to the top 30.

The thing is, Nash wasn't even an all-star level player until he was 26 or so. This is Curry's age 25 season, and he's been an all-star caliber player since he was 22. There's really no telling how much better he can get, especially since his ankle woes seem to have been curtailed by switching from Nike to Under Armour.

While that my be true it's important to understand that it's rare for a player to peak at age 31-33 like nash did at least for guard anyway. And i don't think curry was all star caliber until just last year where he got snubbed. Curry is now 26 by the way.

In a prime Vs prime thread becoming a superstar at 31 is irrelevant, but a build around thread ? Absolutely. It wlild be like if lebron just became.... Lebron next year

[Basketballefan]

The thing is, Nash wasn't even an all-star level player until he was 26 or so. This is Curry's age 25 season, and he's been an all-star caliber player since he was 22. There's really no telling how much better he can get, especially since his ankle woes seem to have been curtailed by switching from Nike to Under Armour.

While that my be true it's important to understand that it's rare for a player to peak at age 31-33 like nash did at least for guard anyway. And i don't think curry was all star caliber until just last year where he got snubbed. Curry is now 26 by the way.

In a prime Vs prime thread becoming a superstar at 31 is irrelevant, but a build around thread ? Absolutely. It wlild be like if lebron just became.... Lebron next year

I was dusputing the sentiment of curry surpassing nash all time eventually, and gave my reasoning as to why he probably won't.

[KyletheDingbat]

Are we even sure that Curry is a better shooter than peak Nash? Or is he just less restrained?

Bballref shows Nash was a higher % shooter from literally every spot on the floor, especially from 10 feet in, where it's not even close.

It seems that this argument would hinge on Curry being the more effective scorer, but I'm not even sure of that.

Great point! I'd also like to pose this question: are we even sure Curry is a better shooter off the dribble than Nash? He does it a lot more, but Nash was an expert as well. We all remember plenty of times Nash would dribble this way and that, around a pick and behind his back, pull the 3 and splash.

I'm not sure Curry has anything on Nash at this point. Curry is amazing though and I've called him the greatest shooter of all time before (I was overreacting though).

[therealbig3]

Curry shoots at a much higher volume and against much more focused defensive attention (I don't think there's ever been a player's jumper more feared by opposing defenses than Curry's, especially behind the 3pt line), and he was still able to shoot at a pretty much identical percentage to Nash (43.9% from 3 for Curry through 5 seasons...Nash from 05-10, which was his best 6-year stretch, shot 44.5% from 3). I think that's pretty clear evidence that Curry is the better shooter.

The same percentage on much higher volume, while largely creating off the dribble for yourself, while his jumper is specifically being focused on by opposing defenses more than Nash's ever was = better shooter.