Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter the sport of basketball has ever seen. No other player has been as dominant in letting the ball fly from 23 feet past the basket. Arguments could be made for Ray Allen or Reggie Miller, but at the end of the day, there’s no arguing with ‘The Chef’.
On December 14th, 2021 Steph Curry sank a triple against the New York Knicks, in the Mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden. Although there was already a wide sentiment that he was the greatest shooter of all time, his breaking Ray Allen’s all-time three-point record was the icing on the cake.
After this moment, and Curry’s 4th championship ring, which he collected after winning the 2022 NBA finals, the conversation changed from him being the greatest shooter, to him being a top 10 player of all time and maybe even the greatest point guard the league has ever possessed.
It seems NBA legend Julius Erving doesn’t believe in that particular speculation. When recently interviewed, Erving was asked to list his top ten players of all time and mysteriously his picks were devoid of any current players including Stephen Curry and LeBron James.
Why didn’t Julius Erving choose Stephen Curry?
Barring Warriors fans, there are many in the NBA community that would have a top 10 all-time list lacking Stephen Curry. The general consensus is that while he may be the greatest shooter, Magic Johnson is still superior in terms of being a point guard.
Couple this with the fact that Julius Erving comes from a very old school of basketball, one in which three-pointers held no significance and you start to see why he may have come to this conclusion.
Joy De’Angela: “So no Steph [Curry]?”
Dr J.: “Oh no. He hadn’t even played long enough. He gotta finish his career.”
Julius Erving on not having the greatest shooter in NBA history on his list 😳
(via @joydeangela)pic.twitter.com/JWw8TwqEwV https://t.co/rhXZL3186d
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 31, 2023
However, Erving had a different reason when asked why he didn’t include players like Steph Curry or LeBron James in his list. “Ah no he hasn’t played long enough, he has to finish his career, everybody whose name is on there, their career is finished. LeBron, Steph, people hate on me when I give them my list, when I put those first five, that just messes up everybody’s list, they’re like you gotta have somebody from today. Let them finish.”
Erving’s list included some questionable players like Karl Malone and Nate Archibald. Players whom fans thought could easily be replaced by LeBron James or Curry but Julius stuck with his theme of only retired players throughout the entirety of his list.
Maybe when Curry decides it’s time to hang up the jersey, Doctor J can be consulted again for his opinion on the greatest shooter of all time.