© Kelley L Cox | 2021 Jan 3
So much of the NBA online discussion, for better or worse, revolves around who is slandering who in the current moment. Though Warriors Twitter would have you believe Stephen Curry is the victim of such disrespect at all times, it was hard to deny that questions about his legacy hadn’t ramped up in recent days.
First there was the surprising, which came via his peer Damian Lillard, who said that “He’s seeing that it’s tough to get those quality looks right now… It’s different than what it’s looked like the last four or five years.”
That’s not that inflammatory on it’s face, but it seemed to imply that Curry’s greatness is tied to the great players he’s played with in the past, something Lillard hasn’t had the luxury of, at least not at Steph’s level.
Then there was the more outlandish and less surprising, coming from former Cavalier Channing Frye, who said that Curry’s legacy will be defined by the 2020-21 season.
“Yes they won championships, I guess that’s all that matters,” Frye said. “But I think at the end, I’m just saying this as someone on the outside, it almost looks like it diminishes everything that was accomplished beforehand. It takes away the lore of the Warriors. Until the Warriors go back without him, it’s like, ‘Well, you had to have a stacked team with five Hall of Famers on it.’ … This is the question, and this is unfair, but can Steph do that now?”
Curry responded by dropping a career-high 62 points on Sunday, en route to the most impressive win of the young season for the Warriors by far. Curry admitted afterwards that he has heard the chatter and that it fueled him. He even referenced the famous “And I took that personally” Jordan meme.
So, what did Frye have to say after seeing Curry go nuclear on Sunday? Acted like what he had said previously never happened, and did a 180°, calling Curry an MVP candidate.
“When Steph is playing like this, you’ve got to now starting talking about him in the MVP race,” Frye said Sunday night on NBA TV. “This is what people expect since Klay is out. For him and the Warriors to make the playoffs, he doesn’t need to score 62 every single night, but he’s gonna have to have to have that MVP-style season.”
“When Steph is playing like this you’ve got to start talking about him in the MVP race.” @channingfrye and @realgranthill33 discuss Steph’s career night on #GameTime pic.twitter.com/0W44PPThgu
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 4, 2021
For up-and-coming NBA analysts like Frye, slandering Curry is good for your profile in the sense that it gets your name out there. People are going to talk and write about you, even if it’s not in glowing terms.
Sure it’s silly to call into question the legacy of a two-time MVP and three-time NBA Champion, but if it leads to performances like we saw on Sunday, let’s hope those takes keep flying all season.