RealGM

Where does curry rank all time based on career and peak play value??

He just finished #11 for career in the RealGM Top 100, so if you're asking this board, that's where he landed among a group of regulars.

viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2301069

Tim Lehrbach wrote:He just finished #11 for career in the RealGM Top 100, so if you're asking this board, that's where he landed among a group of regulars.

viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2301069

To add to this, he was also voted in at #11 in the 2022 Greatest Peaks project (and the only player to have a good argument to be ranked ahead of peak Curry since that project took place is Jokic who was ranked a bit lower at that point). In 2019, Curry was voted in at #15.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=100641019#p100641019 (2022)
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1882440#p78126066 (2019)

somewhere in the 7-12 range I think. I would personally have him 8 or 9

Some players would dominate in any era. I’m not sold on Curry being one of those guys. Curry has benefited from the 3 point revolution obviously. I’m not sure how he would fare in the 70’s pre 3 point line or 80’s when the league didn’t empathize the shot nearly as much. Guys who took a bunch of 3’s (Michael Adams, Craig Hodges, Del Curry, Jon Sunvold, Trent Tucker) back then were viewed as one dimensional specialists. Curry obviously has more talent than those guys but I’m not convinced he would be effective taking 2-3 threes a game in that era. I judge players based on the era they play in so he’s in my 15-20 range. If I judge him against all eras he falls down the list considerably, maybe 20-25. If you’re going to judge 60’s/70’s/80’s players in todays league then you have to judge modern players against earlier eras to keep it fair.

Top 15-20

I would have him in a tier of the best non-bigs ever minus LeBron/Jordan.

Fringe top 20, close to top 15.

12-15 range for me.

#10

wafflzgod wrote:somewhere in the 7-12 range I think. I would personally have him 8 or 9

Ditto for me.

I am working on my new GOAT list and I right now have LeBron, Jordan, Kareem, Hakeem, Shaq and Duncan as 1-6 in that order. Then, Russell, Magic, Kobe, Steph, Garnett and Wilt in the 7-12 range. As of right now, that is the approx order I go with, so I have Steph at 10, though I anticipate he could move up in the years to come if he remains at All-NBA level.

ardee wrote:

wafflzgod wrote:somewhere in the 7-12 range I think. I would personally have him 8 or 9

Ditto for me.

I am working on my new GOAT list and I right now have LeBron, Jordan, Kareem, Hakeem, Shaq and Duncan as 1-6 in that order. Then, Russell, Magic, Kobe, Steph, Garnett and Wilt in the 7-12 range. As of right now, that is the approx order I go with, so I have Steph at 10, though I anticipate he could move up in the years to come if he remains at All-NBA level.

Garnett in front of Wilt and Bird? Bird not in your top 12? Bird took his Celts to the ECF as a rookie before McHale and Parish joined the team. That’s more than Garnett could do during his first 8 years in Minnesota. Bird won a title in just his 2nd season. Garnett didn’t win a title until his 13th season. Bird won 3 consecutive MVP’s and was runner up like 4 other times. KG won a career achievement MVP like Barkley, Malone, Durant, Westbrook, Harden etc. At no point in his career was KG considered the best player in the league. Bird was considered the best player in the league by many as early as his second season. Bird was beating Erving, Moses, Jordan, Olajuwon, Magic, Isiah etc on his way to titles. KG needed Paul Pierce and Ray Allen before he ever sniffed the Finals and didn’t win FMVP when he did. Garnett is properly rated by most (top 20-30) in the real world but insanely, obnoxiously and criminally OVERRATED by most on RealGM

9

Underrated even with all his accolades, revolutionized the game IMO, doesn't get enough credit for the 3 ball, he can be ranked as high as #7 for me.

I have him around 9th on my list.

Hair Jordan wrote:

ardee wrote:

wafflzgod wrote:somewhere in the 7-12 range I think. I would personally have him 8 or 9

Ditto for me.

I am working on my new GOAT list and I right now have LeBron, Jordan, Kareem, Hakeem, Shaq and Duncan as 1-6 in that order. Then, Russell, Magic, Kobe, Steph, Garnett and Wilt in the 7-12 range. As of right now, that is the approx order I go with, so I have Steph at 10, though I anticipate he could move up in the years to come if he remains at All-NBA level.

Garnett in front of Wilt and Bird? Bird not in your top 12? Bird took his Celts to the ECF as a rookie before McHale and Parish joined the team. That’s more than Garnett could do during his first 8 years in Minnesota. Bird won a title in just his 2nd season. Garnett didn’t win a title until his 13th season. Bird won 3 consecutive MVP’s and was runner up like 4 other times. KG won a career achievement MVP like Barkley, Malone, Durant, Westbrook, Harden etc. At no point in his career was KG considered the best player in the league. Bird was considered the best player in the league by many as early as his second season. Bird was beating Erving, Moses, Jordan, Olajuwon, Magic, Isiah etc on his way to titles. KG needed Paul Pierce and Ray Allen before he ever sniffed the Finals and didn’t win FMVP when he did. Garnett is properly rated by most (top 20-30) in the real world but insanely, obnoxiously and criminally OVERRATED by most on RealGM

So I say all this as someone who really hated the way this board perceived KG for the longest time, but recently I came to the realization that if you strip away the narrative he was just really really good at basketball.

At his very peak in 2003-05, he was as key to his team's offense as only a couple of forwards ever have been. Only LeBron and Bird averaged more points AND assists than he did. He was also the best rebounder in the league for that stretch and on top of that definitely a top 3-5 defender (Duncan and Wallace being others in contention).

Sum it all up and it's some pretty tremendous impact.

Can't call 2004 a lifetime achievement MVP. Who was better than him in the league that year? He was second in ppg, first in rpg, averaged 5 apg as a forward, and on top of that anchored a pretty good defense considering the teammates he had. Between 2003 and 2004 in the Playoffs he played the Lakers and Kings in 19 games. He won 8 of those and averaged something like 29/15 on good efficiency and elite defense. He needed to reach a ridiculous level for his teams to even have a chance in those games.

Even outside his peak years, from 2000-2002 he was still a top 5 guy in a VERY strong league, contending with Shaq, Duncan, Kobe and Dirk all in their primes.

Now I believe in 2006 and 2007 years his impact did decline, but then he changed roles in 2008 and became more of a defensive specialist (while still being the top scoring option for Boston) and won a title, imo reverting to being a top 3ish player one more time.

2009 he was injured, then in 2010 and 2011 his offense took a step back but he still anchored a very effective Celtics defense and was arguably top 3 in the league on that end of the ball still. 2012 was a magnificent year where he rolled back the years on both sides of the ball and almost upset peak LeBron.

He just brought a lot of value on both sides of the ball for a lot of years. I'm not as high on his 06-07 and 09-11 years as some on here so he's in the 12ish range for me as opposed to guys who rank him from 5-8.

I could still have Wilt over him, that's very close, as I said in another thread I think they had rather similar careers.

That being said, Bird though, he is definitely in the next bracket. Top 8 peak player for sure but for career value he's lacking. Only played 9 full seasons before '89 injury, then in '90-'92 he was fundamentally limited, a much less effective player.

Even from 1980-88 he had multiple Playoff injuries that reduced his effectivness. '84, '86 and '87 are his only healthy runs (and they were spectacular, which is why I rate his peak high). It's just not enough career value to go above someone like KG who basically had a healthy uninterrupted prime of 10 years from 1999-2008, and then plenty of pre-prime ('97 and '98) and post-prime ('10-'13) value.