Stephen Curry is a certified beast. While there is a constant debate discussing the greatest basketball player in history, there is absolutely no doubt surrounding Curry’s title. He is, without a single doubt, the greatest shooter ever born.
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The three-point specialist is such an offensive threat that defenders often fear facing him. What makes the Golden State Warriors PG so lethal is the combination of his skills.
Offensively, Curry can shoot through or above any defense. He is adept at making off-the-screen jumpers, can catch and shoot far-off threes, land step-back shots, or just dribble to create space. If his ability to shoot from the distance falls short, he drives right to the basket beating much bigger defenders.
While on the Old Man and The Three podcast, Boston Celtics guard Derrick White revealed what it was like to guard Stephen Curry.
Stephen Curry creates fear in defenders
Well, it’s no surprise that defenders are afraid of Curry. For any player wanting to win, an opponent like the baby-faced assassin is the worst possible combination. The problem lies in not how he scores, but in how much he demands from anyone defending him.
Derrick White, who faced Stephen Curry in the nail-biting 2022 NBA Finals recently disclosed the effect the shooter has on defenders. When JJ Redick asked White about the challenges of guarding Steph, the Celtics guard claimed that the biggest challenge of guarding him was knowing where he is at all times.
White: “He has so much gravity that it kinda opens up other things for everybody else too. So, just find Steph, is he coming off the screen, does he have the ball, does he not have the ball. It’s constant paranoia.”
Derrick White could not stop Curry in the 2022 NBA Finals
White, who faced Curry in the last season’s Finals, knows exactly what it feels like to guard Curry. Usually, in regular seasons, teams don’t play each other in consecutive games. However, the playoffs are a completely different thing.
During the playoffs, you are supposed to play a team for seven back-to-back games. This means that teams usually find ways to manage any opposing talents. The Celtics in 2022 were on an incredible run.
Taught by Ime Udoka, they were able to limit Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jimmy Butler. Boston, easily the best defensive team in the league, stopped every major superstar that playoffs until they ran into Stephen Curry, that is.
In the 6 games he played against Boston, Curry averaged 31.2 points per game to win his 4th NBA championship. He wreaked havoc on the champions of the east as if they were a pick-up team. He averaged 5.2 threes in that series even after landing 0 three-pointers in Game 5. No wonder white felt paranoid playing against the monster GSW has created.
