Stephen CurryJesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
In the days and hours leading up to the United States team’s 98-87 victory over France in the gold medal game at the 2024 Olympic men’s basketball tournament, an old video of Stephen Curry resurfaced and went viral.
“I have to play for Coach (Steve) Kerr in 2024,” Curry told his teammates shortly after winning the 2022 NBA Finals. “I have to have something that you all have and I don’t.”
Curry was, of course, referring to the gold medal that his teammates Draymond Green and Klay Thompson have. And just over two years later, he has fulfilled that wish.
Without him, Team USA likely would not have made the final. The Americans needed every one of his 36 points and nine three-pointers in the semifinal against Serbia, arguably the best individual performance in the history of the program.
And when the final against France started to get exciting, Curry performed at his best from beyond the three-point line, even by his own outrageous standards.
With 4:23 left and the USA leading by eight points, he missed a three-pointer. Less than a minute later, the lead was down to six points and Curry lost the ball. 3:16 later, Curry missed again. The lead was down to three points and you could feel the excitement of the French crowd beaming through the screen.
From that point until the final whistle, Curry made four consecutive three-pointers, one of which was a fadeaway from well behind the line and over double coverage.
NBC Olympic and Paralympic Games @NBCOlympics
STEPH WAS FREEZING COLD ON THE FINISH COURSE. 🥶
Four three-pointers in TWO MINUTES AND 11 SECONDS secure France the gold medal. 🥇 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/2dR7UUE0Hn
The barrage ended France’s hopes for a miracle and was the icing on the cake of Curry’s four NBA titles, two MVP titles, a Finals MVP title and his record for most three-pointers made in NBA history.
Before this tournament, Curry had the resume of a top 10-15 player of all time. In fact, he has probably been half a decade or so.
The players were particularly optimistic, and they had good arguments for drafting him ahead of Magic Johnson as the “best point guard of all time” and thus into the top 5 of all time.
Well, these arguments are even easier to make.
After a slow start to the tournament — he averaged 7.3 points and shot just 25.0 percent of his three-pointers in the first four games — Curry emerged as the U.S. team’s most valuable player in the two most important games, even if he didn’t win the actual Olympic Most Valuable Player trophy (that went to LeBron James, who obviously had strong chances of his own).
He finished Saturday’s gold medal game with 24 points, shooting 8 of 12 from distance. He raised his scoring average for the tournament to 14.8 points and increased his three-point percentage to 47.8.
In the tightest moments of the tournament, Curry turned into a welding torch.
And with another unforgettable moment like this added to his already incredible resume, we are once again compelled to talk about this top five.
It’s hard to break the race for the top spot between Michael Jordan and LeBron James, but Curry has outscored LeBron in three different finals and emerged as the leading scorer at the height of the Paris Olympics.
As arguably the greatest center of all time, six-time NBA champion, six-time MVP and second-leading scorer of all time in basketball, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar certainly deserves a place on this table.
Larry Bird, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain probably fall into this category as well. Even the most ardent Kobe Bryant fans have their arguments.
But the question of whether Curry should be considered one of the five greatest players of all time really comes down to whether you choose between him and Magic.
Shooting is the most important skill in basketball, and Curry is the greatest shooter of all time. Playmaking and passing can propel teammates in a way that few other skills can, and Magic may be the greatest playmaker and distributor of all time.
The statistics are probably close enough to make the numbers argument a draw, although Curry’s results recently surpassed the Magic’s in a blind poll.
When trying to analyze the NBA all-time scoring list, there are few clear-cut things. Ultimately, it will always come down to the preference of the analyst or fan. Some prefer scoring over passing. Some place more emphasis on defense. Some are only interested in how it Look when your favorite player starts.
After Curry’s summer in Paris, one thing is certain: he has more than earned his place in this discussion.
And somehow it seems like he’s not finished yet.
