Compare peak Curry to peak Magic

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Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#1 » by D.Brasco » Thu Oct 15, 2020 3:07 pm

Inspired by a comparison I saw elsewhere. Magic still had a better career/acolades than Curry currently has.

However peak to peak as players specifically, does peak Curry have an argument as a better player than peak Magic?
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#2 » by 70sFan » Thu Oct 15, 2020 3:17 pm

He has, but a weak one. Peak Magic is still the best playmaker in NBA history and there was no defense that could contain him:



He didn't have any weaknesses on offense and his size allowed him to impose his will against any type of opponents (similary to James).
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#3 » by No-more-rings » Thu Oct 15, 2020 3:19 pm

I think Magic is comfortably better, you couldn't limit him the way you can Curry in the playoffs. The reason is simple i think, great playmaking tends to be less prone to variance than great shooting especially when there's a big size difference between the two.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#4 » by WarriorGM » Fri Oct 16, 2020 12:54 am

Curry won a championship without a top 10 ATG as a teammate.
Curry won a championship leading a team without another teammate having been in the NBA finals previously.
Curry led a team to three successive 67-win seasons.
Curry led a team to a championship after going through what was considered the tougher conference.
Curry led the league in +/- at the end of the entire season every season from 2015-2019 except 2016 when he was second.
Curry led the league in points per game.
Curry led the league in steals.
Curry led the league in PER.
Curry led the league in TS%.
Curry led the league in WS, OWS, and WS/48.
Curry led the league in BPM, OBPM, and VORP.
Curry led the league from three-point range.
Curry led the league in field goals.
Curry led the league in FT% not surprisingly since he has the highest career FT% in NBA history.

Curry is also the greatest playmaker ever not Magic. Magic passed more but Curry has gravity.

Anyone who says Magic is comfortably better is putting on rose-tinted glasses or actively in denial.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#5 » by dygaction » Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:06 am

WarriorGM wrote:Curry won a championship without a top 10 ATG as a teammate.
Curry won a championship leading a team without another teammate having been in the NBA finals previously.
Curry led a team to three successive 67-win seasons.
Curry led a team to a championship after going through what was considered the tougher conference.
Curry led the league in +/- at the end of the entire season every season from 2015-2019 except 2016 when he was second.
Curry led the league in points per game.
Curry led the league in steals.
Curry led the league in PER.
Curry led the league in TS%.
Curry led the league in WS, OWS, and WS/48.
Curry led the league in BPM, OBPM, and VORP.
Curry led the league from three-point range.
Curry led the league in field goals.
Curry led the league in FT% not surprisingly since he has the highest career FT% in NBA history.

Curry is also the greatest playmaker ever not Magic. Magic passed more but Curry has gravity.

Anyone who says Magic is comfortably better is putting on rose-tinted glasses or actively in denial.


Everything is good except that part, Curry is no where close to that, not even one of the greatest playmakers.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#6 » by WarriorGM » Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:22 am

dygaction wrote:
WarriorGM wrote:Curry won a championship without a top 10 ATG as a teammate.
Curry won a championship leading a team without another teammate having been in the NBA finals previously.
Curry led a team to three successive 67-win seasons.
Curry led a team to a championship after going through what was considered the tougher conference.
Curry led the league in +/- at the end of the entire season every season from 2015-2019 except 2016 when he was second.
Curry led the league in points per game.
Curry led the league in steals.
Curry led the league in PER.
Curry led the league in TS%.
Curry led the league in WS, OWS, and WS/48.
Curry led the league in BPM, OBPM, and VORP.
Curry led the league from three-point range.
Curry led the league in field goals.
Curry led the league in FT% not surprisingly since he has the highest career FT% in NBA history.

Curry is also the greatest playmaker ever not Magic. Magic passed more but Curry has gravity.

Anyone who says Magic is comfortably better is putting on rose-tinted glasses or actively in denial.


Everything is good except that part, Curry is no where close to that, not even one of the greatest playmakers.



Then you miss half of what Curry does on the court.

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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#7 » by Jiminy Glick » Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:28 am

Magic is the better passer, rebounder, defender, and was an elite scorer as well. He is just much bigger, more athletic, and plays a much more physical style. Magic is the better player.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#8 » by dygaction » Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:45 am

WarriorGM wrote:
dygaction wrote:
WarriorGM wrote:Curry won a championship without a top 10 ATG as a teammate.
Curry won a championship leading a team without another teammate having been in the NBA finals previously.
Curry led a team to three successive 67-win seasons.
Curry led a team to a championship after going through what was considered the tougher conference.
Curry led the league in +/- at the end of the entire season every season from 2015-2019 except 2016 when he was second.
Curry led the league in points per game.
Curry led the league in steals.
Curry led the league in PER.
Curry led the league in TS%.
Curry led the league in WS, OWS, and WS/48.
Curry led the league in BPM, OBPM, and VORP.
Curry led the league from three-point range.
Curry led the league in field goals.
Curry led the league in FT% not surprisingly since he has the highest career FT% in NBA history.

Curry is also the greatest playmaker ever not Magic. Magic passed more but Curry has gravity.

Anyone who says Magic is comfortably better is putting on rose-tinted glasses or actively in denial.


Everything is good except that part, Curry is no where close to that, not even one of the greatest playmakers.



Then you miss half of what Curry does on the court.

Image


That's because of his gravity, demanding double team, and ability to play off the ball. Does not mean he had Nash or CP3's playmaking skills.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#9 » by 70sFan » Fri Oct 16, 2020 8:04 am

No, Curry isn't better playmaker than Magic.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#10 » by CodeBreaker » Fri Oct 16, 2020 8:08 am

Magic was the better playmaker but Curry was just out of this world, never seen something like that EVER.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#11 » by 2klegend » Fri Oct 16, 2020 9:32 am

Magic is a better playmaker than Curry as a scorer. You can pressure a scorer much easier than you can do it against a playmaker.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#12 » by Dutchball97 » Fri Oct 16, 2020 9:56 am

Just based on what they actually did and not whose playstyle I prefer it is definitely close. When looking at both regular season and play-offs there really isn't that big of a gap between them. Curry has an edge in terms of best regular season but I think Magic peaked a bit higher in 87 when looking at the season as a whole.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#13 » by WarriorGM » Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:00 am

Dutchball97 wrote:Just based on what they actually did and not whose playstyle I prefer it is definitely close. When looking at both regular season and play-offs there really isn't that big of a gap between them. Curry has an edge in terms of best regular season but I think Magic peaked a bit higher in 87 when looking at the season as a whole.


Curry 2017 matches Magic 1987 just fine. Probably superior.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#14 » by 70sFan » Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:38 am

WarriorGM wrote:Curry won a championship without a top 10 ATG as a teammate.

So did Magic, unless you believe that 1987 and 1988 Kareem is top 10 ASG.
Curry won a championship leading a team without another teammate having been in the NBA finals previously.

So what? Leandro Barbossa, Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala were relevant players in the league way before 2015.
Curry led a team to three successive 67-win seasons.

Magic led a team to four successive 62-win seasons in a smaller league.
Curry led a team to a championship after going through what was considered the tougher conference.

Magic led his injured and old team to the finals in tougher conference as well in 1991.
Curry led the league in +/- at the end of the entire season every season from 2015-2019 except 2016 when he was second.

We don't have +/- for Magic.
Curry led the league in points per game.

Magic led the league in assists per game 4 times.
Curry led the league in steals.

So did Magic, twice.
Curry led the league in PER.

Magic was 2nd and 3rd, despite PER overrating volume scoring.
Curry led the league in TS%.

Magic was 2nd in 1989.
Curry led the league in WS, OWS, and WS/48.

So did Magic.
Curry led the league in BPM, OBPM, and VORP.

Magic was 2nd in BPM and OBPM many times and he also led the league in VORP.
Curry led the league in FT% not surprisingly since he has the highest career FT% in NBA history.

So did Magic.
Curry is also the greatest playmaker ever not Magic. Magic passed more but Curry has gravity.

Yeah, because Magic didn't have gravity :crazy:
Magic was probably the best post player and transition orchestrator ever.
Anyone who says Magic is comfortably better is putting on rose-tinted glasses or actively in denial.
[/quote]
Or understands that Magic has been more resilient in playoffs, has much longer prime and has comparable peak...
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#15 » by Homer38 » Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:46 am

In the playoffs I take Magic Johnson everytime!
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#16 » by Dutchball97 » Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:47 am

WarriorGM wrote:
Dutchball97 wrote:Just based on what they actually did and not whose playstyle I prefer it is definitely close. When looking at both regular season and play-offs there really isn't that big of a gap between them. Curry has an edge in terms of best regular season but I think Magic peaked a bit higher in 87 when looking at the season as a whole.


Curry 2017 matches Magic 1987 just fine. Probably superior.


In terms of play-off performance I also think 87 Magic and 17 Curry are a wash but with KD coming to town Curry took on a lesser role in the regular season and it's not really comparable to Magic's MVP season in terms of production.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#17 » by Threetimes10 » Fri Oct 16, 2020 3:35 pm

70sFan wrote:
WarriorGM wrote:Curry won a championship without a top 10 ATG as a teammate.

So did Magic, unless you believe that 1987 and 1988 Kareem is top 10 ASG.
Curry won a championship leading a team without another teammate having been in the NBA finals previously.

So what? Leandro Barbossa, Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala were relevant players in the league way before 2015.
Curry led a team to three successive 67-win seasons.

Magic led a team to four successive 62-win seasons in a smaller league.
Curry led a team to a championship after going through what was considered the tougher conference.

Magic led his injured and old team to the finals in tougher conference as well in 1991.
Curry led the league in +/- at the end of the entire season every season from 2015-2019 except 2016 when he was second.

We don't have +/- for Magic.
Curry led the league in points per game.

Magic led the league in assists per game 4 times.
Curry led the league in steals.

So did Magic, twice.
Curry led the league in PER.

Magic was 2nd and 3rd, despite PER overrating volume scoring.
Curry led the league in TS%.

Magic was 2nd in 1989.
Curry led the league in WS, OWS, and WS/48.

So did Magic.
Curry led the league in BPM, OBPM, and VORP.

Magic was 2nd in BPM and OBPM many times and he also led the league in VORP.
Curry led the league in FT% not surprisingly since he has the highest career FT% in NBA history.

So did Magic.
Curry is also the greatest playmaker ever not Magic. Magic passed more but Curry has gravity.

Yeah, because Magic didn't have gravity :crazy:
Magic was probably the best post player and transition orchestrator ever.
Anyone who says Magic is comfortably better is putting on rose-tinted glasses or actively in denial.

Or understands that Magic has been more resilient in playoffs, has much longer prime and has comparable peak...


Everything you said in response only suggest that there should be a discussion and not that peak Magic is "comfortably better".

"much longer prime" is irrelevant in this discussion.

"more resilient in the playoffs" is debatable if we're just comparing best playoff runs and I think those coincide with their respective peaks.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#18 » by Heej » Fri Oct 16, 2020 3:45 pm

I think Magic is a better foundational piece that may be more resilient in the playoffs but Curry is the ultimate auxiliary piece. If the aliens were coming and we had to put together our best all time team I want 17 Curry (16 was his statistical peak, 17 or 18 was his true peak imo) as my starting PG over 87 Magic. He'll just do better overall with that gamebreaking shooting and motor
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#19 » by 70sFan » Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:52 pm

Threetimes10 wrote:Everything you said in response only suggest that there should be a discussion and not that peak Magic is "comfortably better".

I said that Curry has a case, but it's weak one.

"much longer prime" is irrelevant in this discussion.

If you believe in outlier years then sure. Magic proved his value much more times though, so I'm more comfortable with his peak.
"more resilient in the playoffs" is debatable if we're just comparing best playoff runs and I think those coincide with their respective peaks.

Curry in his "best" playoff run faced very weak competition while being on the most talented team ever. I know that Magic faced weak competition in 1987 as well, but he also has 1985 and 1988-91. Curry's 2nd best playoff run is what? 2015? 2019? I'd take Magic over that comfortably.
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Re: Compare peak Curry to peak Magic 

Post#20 » by Vladimir777 » Fri Oct 16, 2020 10:53 pm

Wouldn't be a discussion about Steph without some graphs being brought out. I'm trying to not get bothered by the Steph love so much, but I clearly have a huge bias against the guy. That being said, I still think Magic is the better player at his peak, because Steph has frequently wilted in the playoffs, whether it's due to injury or not.

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