When one thinks about what makes Stephen Curry so dangerous as a basketball player, most people automatically assume it would be his shooting. They won’t be wrong, considering he’s the greatest shooter the sport has ever seen. However, according to his peers, including LeBron James, that’s just one of the things that makes Curry lethal.
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The Warriors’ decade-long run of four championships was built on two pillars: Curry being at the core of the offense, and Draymond Green being at the heart of the defense. Curry’s tenacity to always be moving on the basketball floor has helped the Warriors orchestrate an organized chaos that has been effective for over 10 years.
Speaking to LeBron James and Steve Nash on their podcast Mind The Game, Steph was discussing Coach Kerr’s offensive schemes and how they’re inspired by FC Barcelona’s tiki-taka, Coach Gregg Popovich, and Coach Mike Budenholzer. Further, he brought up off-ball screens. “I love off-ball screens, which as a shooter and a scorer, Coach McKillop at Davidson taught me, you know, you help somebody, you help yourself.”
Curry further explained how off-ball screens lead to the person’s defender to make a tough choice: “If I can set a screen, you’re guarding me and your goal is to keep the ball out of my hands. You got to make a decision now. Like, are you going to call the switch?”
When it’s someone as dangerous as Steph setting the screen, his defender would always try to stay attached to him, with an additional defender sticking to him, which leads to open shots for his teammates. Impressed by Steph’s willingness to play the ‘sacrificial lamb,’ Nash brought up a key stat involving Steph and his Warriors.
“Over a certain period of time in your career, your team’s rim attempts when you’re on the floor are 45% of your shots,” Nash shared. He further added how that’s not from Curry throwing an assist to someone at the rim, but rather from his movement. Moreover, Nash shared how that number falls to 27% when Curry gets off the floor.
LeBron didn’t hold back when Nash mentioned Steph’s gravity. “He’s most dangerous, when he doesn’t have the ball… as a competitor, and as a dear friend now, having guys not truly understand what that means… it grinds you in the head.”
“He is most dangerous when he gives the ball up,” James added. “When he’s giving the ball up and he’s moving and moving and everybody is doing like this to Steph[gestures watching], slip happens.” James spoke about how Curry giving the ball up often leads to easy buckets for his teammates.
One of the best examples would be Draymond Green’s fake handoff at the top of the key. While Steph’s running, Dray pretends to pass the ball to him, which leads to Steph’s defender and his own defender to chase after Curry, giving him a free lane to the basket. A key ingredient of the Warriors’ offense over the years has been having multiple guys who can handle the ball on the floor. That leads to Curry having options while giving the ball up, and opening the floor for the rest of the team.
As LeBron summed it up best, Curry’s true brilliance lies not just in his shot, but in the panic he causes when he doesn’t have the ball, a skill that’s redefined how basketball is played and defended in the modern era.
