Stephen Curry showing why he is part of NBA all-time elite inner circle

Andrew Parasiliti

Among those players on the four teams remaining in the NBA playoffs, any conversation about ‘the best’ begins and ends with Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

‘ The Golden State Warriors star hasn’t just outlasted his peers,’ writes Ben Golliver of the Washington Post.

‘He’s dancing all over the next generation, too.’

Fox News analyst Skip Bayless said recently that Curry may not get the respect from other players that his record and reputation merit, which seems to be in the hard-to-believe category, so let’s put Curry’s accomplishments in perspective.

As I suggested here two years ago, when having ‘all-timer’ discussions, it’s helpful to set a standard for performance.?Mine here is multiple championships and MVP’s – at least two of each -- the best players on the best teams.?

There are 216 players in the NBA Hall of Fame.?

Of those 216, only nine players, ever, in the history of the NBA, can claim multiple championships and MVPs.?

Two are active inthe league today – Lebron James and Curry.?

And only Curry is still playing in this year’s playoffs.

Let’s break down this most elite circle to get a sense of Curry's peer group at this level.

The all-time starting five.?If you set the bar at at least 4 rings and 3 MVP’s, only five players, ever, make the cut. ?Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics (11 rings/5 MVP), Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the Milwaukee Bucks and LA Lakers (6 rings/6 MVP), Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls (6 rings/5 MVP), Magic Johnson of the Lakers (5 rings/3 MVP), and James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and Lakers (4 rings/4 MVP).??That’s your Cooperstown starting five, in my score.?

The next four .?There are only four additional players who have at least two rings and two MVP’s. ??Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs (5 rings/2 MVP’s), Larry Bird of the Celtics (3 rings/3 MVP), and Wilt Chamberlain of the San Francisco Warriors and Lakers (2 rings/4 MVP’s), and Curry of the Warriors (3 rings/2 MVP).

Next up.?The only current players today who are close to this rarefied circle are Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Warriors and Brooklyn Nets (2 rings/1 MVP);?Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (1 ring/2 MVP’s);?Nikola Jokic (2 MVP).

The Rivalries

The Curry-Lebron rivalry also requires some appreciation and context.

Only 14 times since 1947 have members of the nine here met in the finals.?

Curry and the Warriors and James and the Cavaliers have faced off in the finals more than any of the others on this list – 4 years in a row between 2015-2018.?Curry’s Warriors won in 2015, 2017, 2018, ?while Lebron and the Cavaliers took it in 2016, in one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history.

The other all-time nine match ups include:

-Russell (Celtics) vs. Chamberlain (Warriors/Lakers). Russell ?and Chamberlain met in the finals three times (1964, 1968, 1969), and Russell’s Celtics won each time.

-Magic/Kareem (Lakers) vs. Bird (Celtics). The Magic/Kareem-led Lakers played?Bird and the Celtics three times in the Finals (1984, 1985, and 1987), with the Lakers winning twice (1985 and 1987).?

-Jordan (Bulls) vs. Magic (Lakers).?Jordan’s Bulls beat Magic’s Lakers for their first NBA title in 1991.

- Duncan (Spurs) vs. James (Cavaliers/Heat).?Duncan ?is 2-1 vs. James in ?the finals. The Spurs beat Lebron’s Cavaliers in 2007, and then split two contests with the LeBron-led Heat (the Heat won in 2013; the Spurs in 2014).

Others may have different criteria for their all time list, and that’s fine.?The Hall of Fame casts a wider net, for all the right reasons.?This is a short list based solely on multiple rings and MVPs; the best players on the best teams.?It is an amazingly short list, and Steph Curry is on it, still playing, and in position to add another ring.

Andrew Parasiliti is president of Al-Monitor and a Boston Celtics fan.?@ATParasiliti