Steph, Dell Curry reveal top-five player lists from respective eras originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Steph Curry has earned a spot on plenty of top-five player lists, but who does the Warriors superstar have on his own rankings of the best players of his era?
During a conversation with his father, Dell, on the “Heat Check with Stephen and Dell Curry” podcast, the two-time MVP shared who he believes are the five best players of his era, noting he entered the NBA at a time when a pair of all-time greats were on the back end of their storied careers.
“Mine kind of split right on a changing of the guard, because you could say Kobe [Bryant] and Tim Duncan was the first four years of my career, so I’m going to exclude them,” Steph explained. “Basically from 2009 to 2023 now. We got [LeBron James], [Kevin Durant], Kawhi [Leonard].
Curry deliberated further on his final two choices, citing how difficult it is to compile a list like this without leaving someone off who could be deserving of a selection.
“Every time you do this you’re going to miss somebody,” Steph said. “Obviously I got myself. There’s like a group of four that I’m picking from right now and it’s really, really, really hard. “I’m going to say James [Harden].”
Steph’s father Dell spent 16-years in the NBA from 1986 to 2002, sharing the court with some of the greatest players the sport has ever seen. Dell’s list included five Hall of Famers, but the elder Curry also expressed how difficult it is to whittle it down to just five players.
“I got [Michael Jordan], Magic [Johnson], [Larry] Bird … [Shaquille O’Neill] and this last one is tough, but I’m going with [Hakeem] Olajuwon,” Dell revealed. “I left off Karl Malone, [John] Stockton.
Steph revealed he also had players he struggled with leaving off, including one of his teammates.
“I had like, Kyrie [Irving], [Anthony Davis], my guys, Klay [Thompson],” Steph shared.
It’s hard to argue with Curry’s list, as four of the five players, including himself, have won multiple NBA championships and at least one Finals MVP award. The only player without a title is Harden, who does have an NBA MVP award to his name while widely being recognized as one of the most prolific scorers the game has ever seen.
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