Brandon Jennings: "It’s easier to be KD, Bron, and etc, You gone need a a lot of training trying be Steph Curry though"

[Michael Jackson]

I'm firmly convinced that a good part of Curry's ability is God-given. It's not all work ethic.

All the greats have god given talent. It is that coupled with work ethic that makes them great. You need both. Jordan had gifts that were unreal but he worked. Lebron, Curry, KD etc.... There have been more guys with god given talent that just never put in the work. Take Eddy Curry or Andrew Bynum. Goodness they could have been elite. just didn't care. Plus when you are that good and everyone is gunning for you it is even more difficult.

[Snakebites]

There are no NBA players who didn't get there by mostly genetics. Every last one of them (yes, even TJ McConnell) have physical skills that none of us could develop if we trained for decades.

That said, Lebron and KD are physical freaks relative to other NBA players. Steph is not.

[dirkdiggler4177]

How would Curry be like if he was 6'11 like Durant? And how would Durant do at 6'3?

[GunnerWRX]

Warriors fan here. Iguodala did mention that Curry has super human hand-eye coordination. As evidenced by his level of golf play not being a pro golfer. I am sure LeBron and KD etc works as hard as Steph.

Just want to say Steph has super-human genetic gifts as well, vs the super-human physical gifts of LeBron and KD.

Having said that, Steph probably has a little more to overcome because he is not physically gifted.

We have seen many 6-8/7-0 physically gifted persons going pro albeit obviously not as successfully as LeBron/KD, but if the same person was 6-3 190 and work just as hard, they probably can't make it in the NBA.

[GunnerWRX]

I guess the question is, if one has bball gifts and works super hard trying to go pro, would you rather have Steph's body or LeBron/KD's body?

The answer should be quite obvious.

[Pennebaker]

Jennings didn't think this through.

You can train to be Steph Curry. You cannot train to be LeBron.

[Optms]

If you were to rank the most athletic guards today, Curry wouldn't even register. It still amazes me how other worldly he is without ever being the most athletic guard on the floor.

[michaelm]

Jennings didn't think this through.

You can train to be Steph Curry. You cannot train to be LeBron.

I think that was his point.

[dautjazz]

Steph and Seth Curry grew up around NBA players, including their father who was a great shooter himself. Don't think Durant and Lebron wouldn't benefit from being brought up by a rich NBA family?

[dhsilv2]

I don't agree. Steph actually had to revamp his shot in high school.

ok 99.9999999% genetics then

You clearly have no idea how hard it is to revamp your shot. That takes a lot more than 10 percent of work with muscle memory and having to retrain your brain when you've been shooting a certain way for so long.

Lets say it's the hardest thing anyone's ever done. My 99.9999999% doesn't change here.

[dhsilv2]

If hard work and training is all it took, you'd see lots of Steph Currys. For example, by all accounts Avery Johnson had an insane work ethic, and he wasn't in the same galaxy as a shooter. It's easy to look at freak athletes/specimens and see their gifts, but something like, say, hand-eye coordination doesn't register. Another example, I remember reading an anecdote about Steve Nash that he could pick up his golf clubs after not playing for extended periods and still hit in the low 70s. That's nuts. Many people play their entire lives and don't shoot that well, let alone with little to no practice. So while you obviously have to work your ass off to hone skills like his, it's always seemed pretty obvious that Steph is insanely gifted, to an extent we've never really seen before.

You will see more Stephen Curry soon in the future, lil kids will be growing up shooting threes. Jordan was a prime example of this, it will be the same with Curry.

This… along with basketball getting more and more popular worldwide, we will continue to see strides taken in the sport. Just like this class of players are generally better shooters, ball handlers and finishers than eras in the past, it will continue to go forward… only thing that would change that is if the sport died down in popularity. Most guards in past eras had little to no left at all. You can’t be a guard in the NBA today without a left. Mark Jackson, who was a great point guard never even attempted a left finish, and you would look at more and realize how much that alone has evolved, its not just shooting like everyone here says. The game has evolved a ton and will continue to. Weirdly, its also the only sport that the fans, ex players and media actively deny this to prop up the “golden” eras of the sport.

And Curry’s skills are 100% a result of his training. Its ALL reps and more reps… and then even more reps. I was a really good 3 point shooter and played up until college and I trained a ton, but compared to today’s players, it was a complete joke, maybe a 10th of the time they spent playing ball from ages 10 to college lets say.
And no I wasn’t born with good shooting genes or dribbling genes lol. The reason my hand eye coordination was so good was 100% a result of playing triple A baseball from a very young age, tons of basketball and a lot of football too. Now genetically, my 6’3 height surely helped but by NBA standard, at 6’3, you better be more skilled than the big guys, yes.

If you had bottom 1% eye hand coordination, you'd have never been able to dribble a ball at the middle school level. You could train harder than anyone to ever live, be given all the tools possible...you'd still be at your best a terrible middle school level dribbler. You'd never be a 25% free throw shooter nor be able to make a single 3 in a game.

Eye hand coordination is genetic, yes you can train it, but you'll be limited by your genetics.

[dhsilv2]

Jennings didn't think this through.

You can train to be Steph Curry. You cannot train to be LeBron.

Other than you cannot train to be curry...

[Duke4life831]

Jennings didn't think this through.

You can train to be Steph Curry. You cannot train to be LeBron.

That was literally the point Jennings was trying to make.

[dhsilv2]

Steph and Seth Curry grew up around NBA players, including their father who was a great shooter himself. Don't think Durant and Lebron wouldn't benefit from being brought up by a rich NBA family?

How's lebron's kid doing? Jordan's? Why are these guys not at least 90% free throw shooters?

48.8% of nba players are related to elite athletes (defined as anyone who has played a sport professionally, in the NCAA or at national-team level.)

The league is FULL of players who's parents were pro athletes. And yet, curry is a genetic freak outlier among a league of freaks who are related to other freaks.

[UcanUwill]

I'm firmly convinced that a good part of Curry's ability is God-given. It's not all work ethic.

Yeah maybe it is all nurture over nature, but the guy is the son of great NBA shooter. There has to be some kind of gene that was passed down with great hand-eye/Spatial coordination.

That might be true but he practiced shooting in NBA enviroment since he was little kid. The work he put in shows.

[dhsilv2]

I'm firmly convinced that a good part of Curry's ability is God-given. It's not all work ethic.

Yeah maybe it is all nurture over nature, but the guy is the son of great NBA shooter. There has to be some kind of gene that was passed down with great hand-eye/Spatial coordination.

That might be true but he practiced shooting in NBA enviroment since he was little kid. The work he put in shows.

I think of it this way.

If you're in the top 1% on the planet in terms of eye hand coordination. Could you shoot free throws like Curry if you worked harder than anyone ever in the history of the world? No...ZERO chance. If you're in the top .1%...maybe.

But now here's the thing...you ALSO need to be in the top 10% in height. Have elite endurance. And also have the stability and ability to hit those 3's in game...

Sure 1 in a billion people might have a shot. But that's it! You can't train to be Curry anymore than being Lebron's size, height, and weight.

Over the next 1,000 years maybe 15 people can be Lebron and 20 can be Curry. But it's that small.

[Dupp]

In theory I think he’s right but I’m sure they all work as hard as each other ( maybe not bron now).


Curry has a gift too, his shot. It’s a more skill based gift but it is a natural ability where as the other two have physical gifts. Now obviously he puts in an insane amount of work and that’s why he’s a godly shooter. But I don’t think just any player that worked as hard as Steph would be the same or close so yeah it’s a natural gift also.

[DCasey91]

Jennings didn't think this through.

You can train to be Steph Curry. You cannot train to be LeBron.

You can’t train to be like either. Unless your bullseye the character but then what is training.

I get what Jennings is saying

There’s more 6”3” 190 types around duh but there’s zero Steph Currys so to speak of.

Brandon was a smallish guard and if your undersized and make it to the top at some degree your skill level should be very very high and above because there’s another 3x guys like you waiting in the wings if you catch my drift.

He worded it wrong the gist of it is people at extreme heights got NBA jobs but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are good basketball players. A lot of the generic lottery is taken care of.

[Jables]

Sheer athleticism will get you a rounded box score, everyone calls a guy like Simmons lazy and has to reconcile the fact that the guy is a walking triple double that came number 2 in DPOY votes.

Every NBA player has to work hard, if you're under 6'7 you're gonna have to work harder and it only gets worse the shorter you are, no doubt about it.

[DCasey91]

I’m guessing some people here haven’t actually played sport might be ignorance but size with the same relative skillset gives you a massive advantage. Thus the smaller person has to overwork and upskill just to meet the size disadvantage presented.

Westbrook body with Steph Curry ability
Or Steph Curry’s body with Westbrook’s ability

Sheer contrast in aptitude for the game yet both are MVPs go figure.

Giannis is skilled for a big in varying parts of the game but in perspective and relative terms he really isn’t overall when it comes to shooting. He’s an athletic marvel and there’s no questions about that. He had to work extremely hard too

Jennings is basically saying there’s more “bigger” players that aren’t what people think they are.

Skill uptick has to be extraordinarily high given the amount of disadvantage presented at the beginning.

For example person X could train all their life just to get fast. Usain Bolt could eat two family sized pizzas and a six pack and smoke the living daylights out of person X.

That’s reality. I mean Phelps drowned pizzas down like it was nothing some of his meal intake would make normal people obese lol

This isn’t to question people’s ethics it’s just the natural biological disposition of things.

It’ll only separate more in due time imho because of emulation once bigs have higher skillsets it’s always been ggs. But to be like Curry is to be like bullseye ain’t going to happen. The dude is busted and hasn’t been busted enough.