Don’t doubt Stephen Curry ever. His greatness is unmatched, and before you say he’s had the help of some all-time teammates, he’s been more than good enough on his own.
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Of course, having great teammates is a boon, and it shouldn’t be held against any player’s legacy. After all, it’s incredibly difficult to win a title without at least one great sueprstar teammate alongside you.
Few have done it without one. However, Curry’s brilliance has made him one of the greatest playoff winners in recent memory. Currently, the Warriors star is enjoying some time off before the Finals begin.
After a weird two years defined by Klay Thompson’s injury and development from the Warriors youngsters, Golden State is right back in the Finals. They’ve now made it six out of the last eight years, matching Michael Jordan’s record with the Chicago Bulls. It’s an incredible feat, and it speaks to how great Curry and this team has been over the last decade.
The evolution of Steph Curry continues 📈
He’s headed to his sixth NBA Finals! pic.twitter.com/UwOEGJ9box
— ESPN (@espn) May 27, 2022
Stephen Curry has one of the highest playoff win percentages with or without Kevin Durant
The Warriors’ run has been so successful that their core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green have the three highest win percentages in the playoffs ever (minimum of 100 games played).
As per StatMuse, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson lead the way, tied with a .705 win percentage with Stephen Curry right behind them at .695.
Many people believe that Curry’s success was greatly aided by Kevin Durant who made the Warriors a literal unbeatable superteam for three years. However, those people are misguided. The Warriors had already made back-to-back Finals without Kevin Durant the two years before he came, and they set an NBA record with 73 wins in the 2015-16 season.
Now that their team is healthy again, they’ve made the Finals once more, again without Kevin Durant. Sure, Durant may have been the best player on those Warriors’ teams, but they absolutely were capable of running the West without him as they’ve shown.
In fact, Curry’s win percentage in the playoffs without Kevin Durant, .649, is higher than some of the legends of the game like Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Larry Bird.
Here’s the crazy thing:
If you take out Steph’s games with an NBA75 teammate (KD), Steph’s Playoff Win% is 48-26 (.649), which is still better than Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird’s career rate — with all their NBA75 teammates. https://t.co/VfgtfAZvY8
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) May 27, 2022
Next time you think Curry needed Durant for his success, think again. The Warriors guard can cement his legacy as perhaps a top-10 player of all time this season if he can win another ring and secure the elusive Finals MVP award that’s evaded him in all his title runs.
