Jerry West vs Stephen Curry

[Narigo]

Who do you have higher all-time

[Cavsfansince84]

I have West like 1-2 spots higher due to his defense and playoff lift.

[TheGOATRises007]

I personally have Curry higher.

But it's hard to compare players from the 60s/70s to now.

[Colbinii]

I have West like 1-2 spots higher due to his defense.

Do you expect that to change this year or next year, assuming Curry keeps pilling up prime seasons?

[cupcakesnake]

I had West a few spots higher 2 seasons ago, but Curry has leafrogged him since, in terms of stacking MVP-level seasons.

I think Curry's stacking might be over though. He probably has a few more all-star seasons left if health permits. Unless he has another surprise playoff run in him, I think he might be done climbing the all-time rankings.

[70sFan]

I had West a few spots higher 2 seasons ago, but Curry has leafrogged him since, in terms of stacking MVP-level seasons.

I think Curry's stacking might be over though. He probably has a few more all-star seasons left if health permits. Unless he has another surprise playoff run in him, I think he might be done climbing the all-time rankings.

Do you think Curry was MVP-level last year?

[Dutchball97]

It's a really tough one at this point and probably depends on if you value regular season peak or play-off consistency more. I kind of flipflop between who I prefer between them and Oscar for the 2nd best PG and I doubt Curry will be able to leave them in the dust by the end of his career considering he's turning 36 tomorrow and is on a pretty noticeable decline (might not even be an All-NBA player this season although I doubt he'll miss it altogether).

[Cavsfansince84]

Do you expect that to change this year or next year, assuming Curry keeps pilling up prime seasons?

Yes most likely. If Steph has one more high level(like top 10-12) season I'd probably put him ahead of Jerry. It's already very close.

[cupcakesnake]

I had West a few spots higher 2 seasons ago, but Curry has leafrogged him since, in terms of stacking MVP-level seasons.

I think Curry's stacking might be over though. He probably has a few more all-star seasons left if health permits. Unless he has another surprise playoff run in him, I think he might be done climbing the all-time rankings.

Do you think Curry was MVP-level last year?

I guess not quite overall.
It was an up and down season. He piled up some really efficient points but fell a little short of his prime level. Ultimately, he only played 56 games. Up and down kept up in the postseason where he looked like an MVP in round 1 and then fell back to earth against a stronger defense in round 2. I had him vaguely at weak MVP-level in 2023, but with only 56 games I think it's fair to question if he was even that.

I think with the 2022 title run, and then not falling off apart completely in the seasons after, somewhere in there I became convinced to nudge him above West. I have them 11th and 13th on my little list.

I'm a bigger fan of West's game just because I'm a fan of versatility, defense, and passing more than raw scoring.

Do you have West and Oscar still above Steph?

[70sFan]

I had West a few spots higher 2 seasons ago, but Curry has leafrogged him since, in terms of stacking MVP-level seasons.

I think Curry's stacking might be over though. He probably has a few more all-star seasons left if health permits. Unless he has another surprise playoff run in him, I think he might be done climbing the all-time rankings.

Do you think Curry was MVP-level last year?

I guess not quite overall.
It was an up and down season. He piled up some really efficient points but fell a little short of his prime level. Ultimately, he only played 56 games. Up and down kept up in the postseason where he looked like an MVP in round 1 and then fell back to earth against a stronger defense in round 2. I had him vaguely at weak MVP-level in 2023, but with only 56 games I think it's fair to question if he was even that.

I think with the 2022 title run, and then not falling off apart completely in the seasons after, somewhere in there I became convinced to nudge him above West. I have them 11th and 13th on my little list.

I'm a bigger fan of West's game just because I'm a fan of versatility, defense, and passing more than raw scoring.

Do you have West and Oscar still above Steph?

I agree regarding 2023 - I went even harsher on that season due to missed games and I value it as a solid all-nba season.

I still have Oscar ahead of Curry (by like one spot - #12 vs #13), but Steph surpassed West last season on my list. I use CORP-like methodology and West is hurt by missed games (so is Curry to some degree), while Oscar being an ironman for a decade, while playing at comparable level to these two, gives him the edge.

After this season, Curry and Oscar will be basically tied on my list, so it's just a matter of preference at this point and I may give Steph edge for postseason success. Curry still has a shot at top 10 against Magic, but I doubt he'd ever reach my 9th guy (Garnett).

[Clyde Frazier]

I have Curry just ahead at 12th all time with Oscar/West as a tossup right after him.

[One_and_Done]

Curry. Not even close.

[CumberlandPosey]

Tied for me.no clear separation to put one above the other.

[SNPA]

West was a bad man for a long time. Curry is lethal. It’s close. I lean West. Both still outside the top ten. Both over Kobe though.

[HeartBreakKid]

West was a bad man for a long time. Curry is lethal. It’s close. I lean West. Both still outside the top ten. Both over Kobe though.

What does Kobe have to do with anything?

[iggymcfrack]

When two guys have similar box score profile and we don’t have impact data for one of them due to the era they played in, at some point you have to look at whether their team got it done in the playoffs. Here are the career playoff records for both by series:

Curry: 23-5
West: 16-12

That’s a pretty dramatic gap. Now add in that we know Steph’s gravity and off-ball movement are able to create outlier impact even relative to his impressive box numbers. I think our default assumption with West has to be that it if he was providing a similar kind of impact, his teams would have won more. Not saying it’s impossible that West provided that kind of value and just faced bad luck in key moments, but I do think the playoff success gives this to Curry pretty easily.

[HeartBreakKid]

When two guys have similar box score profile and we don’t have impact data for one of them due to the era they played in, at some point you have to look at whether their team got it done in the playoffs. Here are the career playoff records for both by series:

Curry: 23-5
West: 16-12

That’s a pretty dramatic gap. Now add in that we know Steph’s gravity and off-ball movement are able to create outlier impact even relative to his impressive box numbers. I think our default assumption with West has to be that it if he was providing a similar kind of impact, his teams would have won more. Not saying it’s impossible that West provided that kind of value and just faced bad luck in key moments, but I do think the playoff success gives this to Curry pretty easily.

That's really lazy. It's not a 1 vs 1 game, so I have no idea how you think you can default to this type of comparison.

With all the variables that goes into basketball I do not understand how our "default assumption" is that if West was as good as Curry, his team would win more. That doesn't make sense.


Not only does it take into account literally zero analysis of a single series mentioned, it does not even mention how the Lakers also had byes so they are not getting credit for eliminating the lowest seed. Now, I figure that we will say "well, even if you give them 6 wins or so they still have a worse record"

But the fact that even in this heavily flawed analysis you have already overlooked that something as simple as byes exist highlight why this is such a poor way to think about the game.


I actually do not get how you arrived that this "has" to be the way you compare them. I mean if you were in middle school, wouldn't that be how you would compare them? Does 12 year old iggymcfrack have the same analytical ability at 2024 iggymcfrack or can he do better?

[ShaqAttac]

what is even wests arg? curry more rings more mvps and big wowy and rapm. even won without a superteam. west made superteam and only won once

[ShaqAttac]

When two guys have similar box score profile and we don’t have impact data for one of them due to the era they played in, at some point you have to look at whether their team got it done in the playoffs. Here are the career playoff records for both by series:

Curry: 23-5
West: 16-12

That’s a pretty dramatic gap. Now add in that we know Steph’s gravity and off-ball movement are able to create outlier impact even relative to his impressive box numbers. I think our default assumption with West has to be that it if he was providing a similar kind of impact, his teams would have won more. Not saying it’s impossible that West provided that kind of value and just faced bad luck in key moments, but I do think the playoff success gives this to Curry pretty easily.

That's really lazy. It's not a 1 vs 1 game, so I have no idea how you think you can default to this type of comparison.

With all the variables that goes into basketball I do not understand how our "default assumption" is that if West was as good as Curry, his team would win more. That doesn't make sense.

west lost with a superteam tho

[HeartBreakKid]

When two guys have similar box score profile and we don’t have impact data for one of them due to the era they played in, at some point you have to look at whether their team got it done in the playoffs. Here are the career playoff records for both by series:

Curry: 23-5
West: 16-12

That’s a pretty dramatic gap. Now add in that we know Steph’s gravity and off-ball movement are able to create outlier impact even relative to his impressive box numbers. I think our default assumption with West has to be that it if he was providing a similar kind of impact, his teams would have won more. Not saying it’s impossible that West provided that kind of value and just faced bad luck in key moments, but I do think the playoff success gives this to Curry pretty easily.

That's really lazy. It's not a 1 vs 1 game, so I have no idea how you think you can default to this type of comparison.

With all the variables that goes into basketball I do not understand how our "default assumption" is that if West was as good as Curry, his team would win more. That doesn't make sense.

west lost with a superteam tho

I don't see how that is relevant, but so has Curry. And Lebron James. And Shaq. And Kobe Bryant. And Larry Bird. And Dr.J. And Wilt Chamberlain. And many others.