With the volcanic eruption of Stephen Curry since winning a championship and an MVP last season has come the popular debates and discussions about how he stacks up all time in certain areas. Robert Horry, a Lakers TV analyst and former teammate of Kobe Bryant, said to Justin Termine on Sirius XM Radio that Curry is more dangerous offensively than Kobe was in his prime.
(via Hoopshype):
“Kobe in his prime really wasn’t that great of a three-point shooter. He was a drive, get-to-the-hole, dunk-on-you type of guy. Steph can drive and float you. He can shoot it from half court. You have to guard him at all times.”
What I will say to Horry’s point on Curry — I’ve never seen someone so important to keep track of no matter where they are throughout the entire game. It’s like if you lose Curry for even a second, you’re just dead.
Plenty of people are ready to say that Steph Curry is the best shooter ever, myself included. The three-point shot does wonders for Curry’s efficiency being that he makes so many and scores more points with less shots. Kobe has never averaged more than two makes per game from three and Steph is averaging just under five threes per game this season.
Kobe was never a sharpshooter but a streakily unconscious one at his best. After all, he still holds the single-game record for threes made (12) along with Donyell Marshall, which Curry actually threatened just this week when he hit 11 threes in Washington.
Kobe’s prime is probably most considered to be the 2005-06 season when he averaged 35 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists and did the 81-point thing against the Raptors (which was a few weeks after he dropped 62 on the Mavericks in three quarters). Steph and Kobe are dangerous in different ways offensively. To say who is more dangerous, like in other debates, might only be settled by how much more Steph Curry has to show us in his career.