Mac McClung Delves Into Why Stephen Curry Is the Hardest Player to Guard

Despite being 36 years old, Stephen Curry remains the hardest cover in the league. His ability to run around screens and find open looks makes him a defensive nightmare. Couple that with a shooting motion that doesn’t always require the perfect form. He can pop a jumper in any defender’s face if he has squared his shoulders, even giving much younger defenders fits.

Like most NBA athletes, it didn’t take long for Mac McClung to learn that defending Steph was the toughest job for a perimeter defender.

Appearing on Captain Jack podcast, the 2x NBA Slam Dunk champion touched upon the unenviable job of defending Curry. As per McClung, once you are asked to guard him, there is no detaching from him even just for a moment. Calling the endeavor exhaustive, McClung expressed,

“I think probably the hardest person I guarded was Steph Curry just cuz you just got to run the whole time. It’s tiring like, that’s gotta be your assignment if you’re guarding Stephen Curry.. Tiring, it’s tough.”

The podcast host pointed out that Curry also possesses incredible physical strength, creating further problems for his defenders. In summary, he is a strong and shifty guard who can outrun the perimeter cover to generate preferable looks through his off-the-dribble and catch-and-shoot playing style.

Considering these multi-faceted aspects, when guarding him, former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova was pushed to the brink almost a decade ago.

Stephen Curry can literally kill you

During the 2015 finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Stephen Curry scored 26 points per game while shooting 44.3% from the floor. He made 4.2 triples per game on a highly effective 38.5%, clicking on seven triples during two games. Clearly, the Cavs defense was unable to curtail his production.

The Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova did all in his power to stop the Warriors’ guard. Delly wasn’t afraid of hitting the floor or fighting through a barrage of screens, but as a result of the relentless motion, he almost burned himself to death. In 2023, Delly’s former teammate JR Smith defined his condition after being glued to Curry all game long.

In JJ Redick’s Old Man and the Three podcast, Smith stated, “‘Delly almost died guarding Steph Curry. No, literally, almost died. We have footage of this man in an ice tub literally to his neck trying to guard this man.”

These words sum up the greatness of Stephen Curry. He transformed the point guard position and influenced a long stream of shooters who mastered their dribbling game and off-the-ball-movement. Even after all these years, no one has come close to him.