The San Antonio Spurs currently sit fifth in the NBA in defensive rating. It makes sense given that they have Victor Wembanyama and his long arm of the law blocking and altering shots all over the court, plus other tenacious on-ball defenders like last year’s Rookie of the Year, Stephon Castle, harassing ball-handlers on the perimeter. It also didn’t make a lick of difference when Steph Curry decided to take over when the Spurs met the Warriors twice in three days last week.
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Steph grinded his way to 46 points to help his Warriors overcome a 14-point first-quarter deficit on Wednesday, then topped that with one of his vintage outside shooting displays as he scored 49 in a one-point comeback win on Friday.
We’ve become a bit numb to the way athletes are extending their primes past what we believed was possible in the past. Tom Brady did it in football, LeBron James has done it in basketball, but Steph is right there with him. Given his lack of size, it’s arguably even more impressive to be doing this at 37.
Paul Pierce and Danny Green played a combined 34 seasons in the NBA, and on the latest episode of No Fouls Given, they put Steph’s two-game, 95-point explosion into context.
“That just makes me think about when I was 37, how I felt,” Pierce said. “I played until about 39, but for him to be doing this at the age of 37. When I think about when I was 37, I was waking up, how practice was. I was in Washington, I had to get my leg taped up … I was having knee issues … I had a turf toe. And I’m looking like dude out here 37 looking like he could play about five more cool years.”
Green retired at the age of 36 after playing just two games in his final season. “Thirty-seven is when I knew it was over for me,” he said. “I started getting the ailments, and I was like nah, it’s too much to get ready, and to get the engine going, and to cool the engine down.”
Pierce averaged 11.9 points per game in his age-37 season, while Green was out of the league. Steph is scoring 27.4 points per game and is still playing at an All-NBA level while doing his normal routine of wearing guys out by running constantly all game, every game.
Pierce and Green brought up other guys that are doing incredible things at an advanced age, including Kevin Durant, who’s helped his Rockets win nine of 10 games while scoring 30 or more four times in that stretch, including in the last two. No Fouls Given cohost Wosny Lambre brought up Steph’s teammate Al Horford as someone else who may not be a star, but is still a productive and winning player at the age of 39.
Steph shows no signs of slowing down, and as long as he’s able to keep it up, the Warriors will continue to be in the mix in the West. They’re currently 9-6, with a two-game Florida road trip on tap against the Magic and Heat before coming home to face five straight Western Conference teams.
