Stephen Curry was listed at 6’3 and 189 pounds during his entry into the NBA. Since then, plenty of NBA pundits and basketball aficionados have discounted Curry’s potential on the court just because of his size, lean physique, and lack of athleticism. However, the Golden State Warriors guard has proven everyone wrong after winning two league MVPs and four NBA championships. But during a recent conversation on “The Bill Simmons Show”, Charles Barkley said that he believes Curry wouldn’t last long on the court if he played against the Detroit Pistons during the Bad Boys era, because their physical style of basketball in the late ’80s and early ’90s would wreck Curry completely.
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It is seldom reported that despite being a lanky 189lbs guard, Steph Curry has insane strength and endurance. According to the director of performance for the Golden State Warriors in 2015, Keke Lyles, “He’s probably 10 times stronger than what people think, Curry can deadlift 400 pounds. Steph’s the second strongest on our team pulling that one.”
Curry also deadlifted almost a 400-pound weight in a recently uploaded clip on Twitter while listening to Damian Lillard’s new album Don D.O.L.L.A. This shows that it might not be as easy to body Curry on the floor as it seems from afar.
Charles Barkley thinks Curry wouldn’t have survived the Pistons’ “Bad Boys” Era
There have been numerous conversations about current players and teams getting compared to players and teams from older generations. One such conversation arose in Bill Simmons’ Podcast, as Charles Barkley mentioned how Steph Curry would not have survived the Detroit Pistons in the 80 and early 90s due to his short stature and lanky physique. In this recent tweet from Pistons Fleet, Barkley can be heard saying:
“Can you imagine, if the Bad Boys were beating the hell out of him…As much as I love Steph Curry, if you think that he could take those blows that John Salley, Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer and those body checks they were putting on Michael and Scottie and myself and guys like that, you really think Steph Curry wouldn’t break?”
Charles Barkley says Steph Curry would “break” playing against the Bad Boy Pistons 😳 pic.twitter.com/IVNArD0o6d
However, this take by Barkley should be taken with a grain of salt. During the 80s and early 90s, smaller guards like Gary Payton (6’4, 190 pounds), John Stockton (6’1, 17o pounds), and Kevin Johnson (6’1, 190 pounds), did pretty well for themselves. Not to mention that these players didn’t have the shooting prowess of Curry.
At 6’2, Curry has had a size disadvantage throughout his college and NBA career, but he has always found ways to score. Curry’s handles on the court are elite and usually allow him to create more space while driving to the basket. Then you couple that with elite finishing ability under the basket. According to an article by Scott Davis “Teams can try to run Curry off the three-point line, but he’s proven so adept at getting any shot he wants, or breaking down the defense within the three-point arc that he often just creates another good shot,”
Shaq once said Stephen Curry is his favorite player
Shaq has been vocal about his take on NBA players, current and retired ones. Recently he engaged in a discussion over an Instagram post that featured 6 former and current NBA greats: Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, and himself.
Without any surprise, Shaq picked Stephen Curry over Michael Jordan, stating “I’m picking my favourite player Stephen Curry and we ain’t losing to nobody, EVER.” It’s not a coincidence that the Diesel calls himself the ‘Black Stephen Curry’.
