Players aren't supposed to hit their prime into their fourteenth season, especially after already winning two MVP awards in their mid-20's.
But Stephen Curry isn't your average player. And after knocking down every other historical precedent, why not flatten father time too?
Curry, who will turn 35 a month before the start of the 2023 playoffs, is having a year on par with his unanimous MVP season of 2015-16. But he's a long shot to win the award for the third time, because this year's squad has been thoroughly mediocre.
Here's a closer look at just how special the baby-faced assassin has been along with how exactly the Warriors are letting him down.
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How Stephen Curry this season compares to MVP seasons
It might sound preposterous to suggest that Curry is better now than when he became the first and only unanimous MVP in league history. And yet... well, you be the judge:
| 2015-16 season | 2022-23 season | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 27 | 34 |
| Shooting splits (FG%, 3PT%, FT%) | 50/45/91 | 50/43/91 |
| True shooting percentage | 67% | 66% |
| Points per game | 30.1 | 30.0 |
| Rebounds per game | 5.4 | 6.6 |
| Assists per game | 6.7 | 7.0 |
| Team winning percentage | .890 | .500 |
The stats don't do justice to how amazing Curry has been on a nightly basis, and they also don't reflect how he's gotten stronger and smarter as a defender. Despite only having 23 games on his resume thus far, there are already too many highlights to choose from to show off his greatness.
How about making Tyler Herro look like he's doing the latest dance trend on TikTok?
Steph Curry doing Tyler Herro absolutely DIRTY my god what filth lmaooo pic.twitter.com/XOPmnGjCbT
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) October 28, 2022
Or absolutely cooking potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate Anthony Davis on the season opener?
oh me
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) October 19, 2022
oh my pic.twitter.com/6Lqkd4I7Ew
My personal favorite? Hitting the dagger on a filthy fadeaway, then telling the fans in Houston to go night, night.
NIGHT, NIGHT! OMG STEPH 😱 pic.twitter.com/oTqbMZVb9c
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 21, 2022
That Curry had to even hit that moonbeam to shut the door on the Rockets, who are 14th in the West, is telling. This is not close to the same team that won the championship six months ago.
How Warriors are failing Stephen Curry
Everyone knows the problems that have been plaguing the Warriors this season. The departures of solid veterans like Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, and Gary Payton II have killed their depth. Their young players have not looked ready to contribute, and their free agency pickups of JaMychal Green and Donte DiVincenzo have not been good enough.
The sliver of a championship window still remains open for the Warriors, but this is it. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson have both been steadily declining. Luxury tax restraints may force Green to leave as soon as next summer if he opts out of the last year of his contract. As good as Curry has been, he doesn't have many years left. The Warriors won't have a better opportunity to add another banner than this season.
The Warriors owe their 2024 first round pick to the Grizzlies but are in control of the rest of their future first-rounders. They have young prospects with value in Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and James Wiseman. There is an opportunity for them to pick up some good available high-feel role players that would fit their system, like Jacob Poeltl, Jae Crowder, Bojan Bogdanovic, or Immanuel Quickley. They don't need another star, but they do need capable veterans in the mold of what they had last year. Their bench flat-out is not cutting it.
The Warriors also need to add depth because Curry can't keep this pace up. His individual brilliance has carried this team to respectability, but he will burn out by the playoffs if the team keeps on leaning on him so hard. His minutes load is higher than it's been since his age 25 season, and he's running more pick-and-rolls than we've seen in previous versions of this team. That wear-and-tear has already caused him to start missing games due to ankle and elbow soreness, including the team's 123-124 collapse to the Jazz on Dec. 7.
“The three games in four nights caught up to him,” Kerr told Madeline Kenney of the Mercury News. “He’s 34 now, he’s not 24, so it takes a little longer to recover from injury or nicks and bruises and that kind of stuff. It was an easy decision because otherwise we’re just chasing our tail if he’s hampered by an injury and then we just keep playing him night after night, it’s not going to end well. So we’re going to have to be proactive all year in cases like this.”
When Curry has been out of the lineup, the Warriors have stunk. They're winless in those three games and have been outscored by an amazing 55 points.
Those numbers are also reflected in Curry's on-off splits. Per Cleaning the Glass, Curry has one of the largest on-off point differentials in the entire league, ranking in the 100th percentile. When he's on the floor, the Warriors' 122.2 offensive rating is significantly better than the Celtics' league-leading offense. When he's sitting, their 99.6 offensive rating is over 7 points per 100 possessions worse than the last place Hornets.
Those numbers reflect the cold, hard truth — once Curry stops performing at an all-time level, the Warriors sun is setting. Counting on Wiseman, Kuminga, and Moody to carry on the dynasty after Curry is gone is pure wishcasting.
Curry's legend has been built up like Paul Bunyan. He may not have tall tales about being eight feet tall or 300 pounds, but I'd like to see Bunyan star in a believable viral video, swishing five straight full-court shots. Despite that mythical greatness, he is human. He can't do it alone. The Warriors need to cash all of their chips in immediately, because it would be an injustice to let this brilliant season go to waste.
