© Kirby Lee | 2019 Apr 26
This certainly won’t cause any controversy.
ESPN is in the process of ranking the 74 greatest players in NBA history, and dropped their list of No. 40-11 on Tuesday. The list saw both Curry and Durant knocking on the top 10, with Curry ranking at 13th of all time and Durant right on his heels at 14.
Here’s what Nick Friedell of ESPN wrote about Curry:
The greatest shooter of all time. Curry’s ability to hit shots from all over the floor changed the way the game is played. He has led the Warriors to three NBA championships and earned two MVP awards, becoming the first unanimous MVP in league history in 2015-16. Curry’s influence on the game is seen on every level of basketball as younger generations shoot more than ever while trying to replicate his game.
And here’s Royce Young on KD:
Coming off an Achilles injury, Durant’s climb back into the elite of the league isn’t a given, but even if he retired tomorrow, he has stacked an all-time career. His eight years in OKC featured his best individual basketball, with four scoring titles and an MVP. No matter how you view his two championships with the Warriors — both of which included Finals MVPs — they will forever be high on the bullet points of his overall résumé. Another title in a less controversial fashion could vault Durant into the top 10, and if he recovers to be even close to his pre-injury self, he could challenge some massive career numbers.
If you look at the resumes, it’s hard to not give KD the edge. While he has two titles to Curry’s three, Durant has two Finals MVPs, is a 10-time All-Star to Curry’s six and has made the All-NBA first team six times to Curry’s three. But Curry has the edge in titles and is almost inarguably the greatest three point shooter of all time. Curry’s presence has likely changed the NBA forever, and it can’t be underestimated how his impact will be remembered.