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Topics: NBA, Lebron James, Steph Curry , Basketball, LA Lakers
Ryan Baldi
Topics: NBA, Lebron James, Steph Curry , Basketball, LA Lakers
Steph Curry's start to the 2024-25 NBA season has only served to add to the Golden State Warriors legend's status among the basketball greats.
Led by Curry, the Warriors have defied expectations with their form at the beginning of the new campaign, posting a 10-3 record. Only the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers have lost fewer games so far.
Curry is averaging a team-best 23 points per game on hyper-efficient shooting averages of 47.9 per cent on field goals, 42.7 per cent from three-point range and 94.3 per cent from the free-throw line.
But the three-point king's sparkling form at the age of 36 has not convinced one of LeBron James' former teammates that Curry belongs in the discussion over who should be hailed as the NBA's greatest of all time.
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Referencing Curry's red-hot form, O'Neal asked his guest, Iman Shumpert, whether Curry deserves mention in the GOAT debate.
Shumpert, whose 10-year NBA career included a spell alongside James with the Cavaliers as well as stops with the New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets, had an interesting point of view on the matter.
"Technically, yes. Personally, no," Shumpert said. "I speak off experience from having to usually guard the best player. There are certain players that you guard that [you can't stop]. When you've gotta deal with somebody like that at the end of a game, it's like, 'Man.'
"Steph, he uses a lot of stuff to get open, like he's going around screens. If you could switch and do enough, and not let him get the ball, you might make it out OK,"
Despite Shumpert's view, Curry's GOAT credentials are solid.
Considered the greatest shooter in basketball history, the Warriors point guard has helped shape teh modern NBA with his prowess from behind the three-point line.
His is also a four-time NBA champion, a two-time MVP and, after teaming up with James to fire the USA to glory at the Paris Games this past summer, an Olympic gold medalist.