Golden State Warriors superstar guard Steph Curry recently named his top five players of his era, featuring a former teammate and perhaps his biggest rival.
On Thursday, Curry and his father, Dell, launched their new Audible podcast, “Heat Check with Stephen and Dell Curry.” Per Tuesday’s news release, the podcast features them “pulling back the curtain on their family’s journey, told through the lens of a father and son, while talking about the biggest names throughout NBA history.”
In Episode 1, the father-son sharpshooting duo ranked their top five players from their respective eras. Steph, who has played 15 seasons and counting since getting drafted in 2009, went first. He named LA Lakers, Phoenix Suns and LA Clippers superstar forwards LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard.
Afterward, the two-time MVP paused to express concern about possibly receiving backlash for omitting a big-name player.
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“I’mma go, basically, from 2009 to right now. We’ve got Bron, KD, Kawhi,” Curry said. “I know every time you do this you’re gonna miss somebody and people will say, ‘Oh my God, he left him off the list? What was he thinking? This guy doesn’t know basketball.’”
Continuing his list, Curry chose himself and Clippers star guard James Harden.
“I got, obviously, myself,” Curry said. “There’s like a group of four I’m picking from right now. … I’m gonna say, James.”
Steph Curry’s top 5 players of his era
(No order):Steph Curry
LeBron James
Kevin Durant
Kawhi Leonard
James Harden(Via Heat Check) pic.twitter.com/5A5yFwdlMU
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 14, 2024
All five of Steph Curry’s choices are considered to be among the NBA’s premier offensive players of the past 15 years. However, his first four selections, including himself, also experienced extensive playoff success.
Curry, Durant, James and Leonard have won a combined 12 championships since 2012. That includes Curry and Durant winning the 2017 and 2018 titles together with Golden State. Curry also faced off against James in the NBA Finals four consecutive years from 2015 to 2018 and against Leonard the year after (2019).
Moreover, at least one player from the quartet won a championship in 10 of 11 seasons from 2012 to 2022.
Harden is the only player on Curry’s list without a title. Nonetheless, he still has an extensive resume featuring 10 All-Star selections, seven All-NBA nods and an MVP. Thus, most probably wouldn’t take exception to his inclusion.
Steph Curry on most difficult snubs from his Top 5 players of era list
As for the most difficult snubs from his top five players of his era list, Steph Curry named three. Those include Dallas Mavericks and Lakers stars Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis and his longtime teammate Klay Thompson.
“I had, like, Kyrie, AD, my guys, Klay, I can keep going,” Curry said.
Irving and Thompson are also viewed among the league’s top offensive players of the past 15 years, with Thompson considered an all-time great shooter. Meanwhile, Davis has long been regarded as a premier two-way big man.
The trio has also experienced championship success, winning six combined titles. However, all three players did so as secondary or tertiary options. So, it would likely be difficult to argue including any of them over Curry’s top five choices.