Stephen Curry is a pure joy to watch. He has made basketball entertaining, since taking the league by storm with three-point flurries, and is one of those ‘ethical hoopers’ that the NBA community keeps talking about. And while that’s frustrating during games, considering the state of the league today, the stats show that what we’re witnessing with Curry is historic.
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Curry, against all odds, led the Golden State Warriors to victory in the NBA Finals in 2022, getting the better of the more favored Boston Celtics. In those six games, he averaged 31 points, shooting 43% from the field and 40% from downtown. It was a deserved Finals MVP performance by Curry, but the fact that he barely went to the free-throw line makes it all the more remarkable.
Curry became the only player in NBA history to average 30+ PPG in the Finals with less than five free-throw attempts per game. Compare that with some of the other ‘superstars’ in the league today, and it’s clear why he will always be a league above them.
Let’s take 2025 Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as an example. The OKC Thunder man, who’s often been accused of foul baiting, lived up to those expectations in the seven-game series against the Pacers. He averaged 30.3 PPG and went to the free-throw line 70 times. That’s an average of 10 per game.
Nikola Jokic, in the 2023 Finals Series against the Heat, went to the line 37 times in five games with an average of more than seven. Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021 went for a whopping 14.16 free throws per game in the six outings against the Suns.
Curry went to the line less than half as often as Giannis did, yet still managed to average over 30 points per game. Of course, there will be people who call getting calls from the refs “an art” and praise the Greek Freak and Shai for it, but there’s a reason Curry is called an ethical hooper.
Stephen Curry is the ONLY player in NBA History to average over 30 PPG in the NBA Finals with less than 5 free throw attempts per game.
Ethical hoops. pic.twitter.com/mgMLptKbGi
— Steph Curry Muse (@StephMuse_) October 5, 2025
Sometimes, he too gets frustrated when blatant fouls on him aren’t called. Defenders around the NBA know that he doesn’t have the best whistle and take advantage of it wholeheartedly. Regardless, Curry’s game isn’t based on trying to get to the line.
Curry wants to play entertaining free-flowing basketball, and he will continue to do so until the day he retires.
