The NBA has seen plenty of flack in recent years for the leaguewide insistence to fire dozens of threes each game. Some of the criticism for this predicament has been placed on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors mid-2010s dynasty, but Byron Scott believes the blame is being sent the wrong way.
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When discussing how the league’s dynamic has changed since Curry became a dominant force, Scott underlined how shooting three-pointers wasn’t the only aspect of Steph’s game that made him a superstar. The 63-year-old explained how the Warriors star is never seen standing around on the court, as Curry’s off-ball movement is a huge part of his elite body of work.
Scott emphasized how the future Hall of Famer is always running around screens when the ball is out of his hands, making him much harder to guard. The former Laker doesn’t believe players give enough attention to this skill when trying to replicate Steph’s greatness. “So, if you’re watching Steph Curry and saying, ‘That’s the guy I wanna emulate’,” Scott began, “Emulate [Steph] on both ends. When he has the ball and when he doesn’t have the ball.”
The three-time champion even lauded Curry’s defensive presence, encouraging young athletes to emulate what the two-time MVP does on the other end, too. “A lot of people say [Steph’s] not a good defender, but I tell you what, he tries every single night,” Scott continued. The 14-year veteran explained that if one is trying to replicate Steph’s greatness, they have to go the distance.
Scott doesn’t believe Curry’s greatness hurt the NBA’s future outlook. He lauded the 36-year-old as one of the greatest ever and a revolutionary talent, instead blaming those who try to copy Curry’s otherworldly shooting without following through on the rest of the legend’s game.
Byron Scott praised Steph’s abilities outside of his shooting
While everyone’s first thought when it comes to Stephen Curry’s greatness is the ease with which he rips the nets from deep, Byron Scott explained why his game is much more than that. Curry’s handles are among the best in the game and are undoubtedly responsible for opening up countless shooting pockets for himself.
But most of the legend’s three-point attempts don’t come from his elusive ball-handling, instead created from his work off the ball.
“[Steph’s] constantly moving, so when he gets off the ball, he’s even harder to guard because he’s running off screens… He’s setting screens and then flaring off ’em, doing all this movement afterwards,” Scott explained.
Curry ranks among the most in-shape athletes in the NBA, but his elite endurance didn’t come from simply jacking up threes. Instead, it came from the legend’s underrated off-ball movement, which Scott believes people need to pay more attention to before blaming Curry for the league’s three-point takeover.
