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In May 2020, ESPN released its list of the 74 greatest NBA players of all time. Everyone was sold on the idea of Michael Jordan taking the No-1 ranking, but a few spots created an uproar. The list puts Stephen Curry at No.13, one spot ahead of Kevin Durant. Since then, a debate has been going on, a debate that is volatile. The big question: which of the two deserves to be ahead on the NBA’s all-time list?
Here we crunch up the numbers and pit the duo against each other. But first, let’s separate their careers!
Kevin Durant before joining Stephen Curry
Kevin Durant was picked by the Seattle Supersonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) in the 2007 NBA draft. With the team going through a transition, Durant instantly became the focal point. He was allowed to play as he wanted and was given the freedom to take shots from any position.
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OKC snapped Russell Westbrook in the 2009 NBA draft and the following season, Durant changed his position from shooting guard to small forward. The move worked. Durant took the scoring bull by the horns and led the offensive charts. In five seasons, Durant won four NBA scoring titles and one NBA MVP award in 2014.
By the start of the 2010-11 season, OKC had assembled an envious star cast. James Harden was already a sophomore, and Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had plenty of years in the bag to launch a title charge. But the lack of depth held OKC back, and the Durant-led team lost to eventual champion Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals.
The following season, OKC reached the final, where the Miami Heat, comprising LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, proved too hot to handle and humbled Durant’s team 4-1 in the NBA Finals.
The Thunder made two more Western Conference finals but failed to take that one final step. During the 2015-16 Western Conference finals, OKC once led 3-1 against the Golden State Warriors, but Stephen Curry scripted an unlikely comeback win.
Stephen Curry before Kevin Durant’s Warriors era
Stephen Curry was the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft. Injuries plagued him at the start of his career and there was a perception about him at that time that he was too small and fragile to withstand the demands of the NBA. However, with time, Curry built strength and improved in leaps and bounds.
Curry played second fiddle to Monta Ellis earlier in his career. But when the Warriors selected Klay Thompson, who was 11th overall in the 2011 NBA draft, and Draymond Green in 2012, and traded Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks, it was the start of Curry’s team.
Curry and Thompson shot the life out of NBA during the 2012-13 season, and thus came the term, “Splash Brother”.
Steve Kerr became the head coach of the Golden State Warriors in 2014 and helped Stephen Curry elevate his game to surreal heights. Curry hauled himself into the all-time point guard debate when the Warriors became champions in 2015, beating LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers 4-2 in the NBA finals. Curry was crowned MVP the same season.
In the 2015-16 season, Stephen Curry won his first NBA scoring title and became the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. He buried a jaw-dropping 402 three-pointers. Curry’s Warriors defeated Durant and the Thunder in the Western Conference finals but lost to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving 4-3 in the 2016 championship game.
Kevin Durant vs Stephen Curry: The Ring Factor!
Stephen Curry beats Kevin Duran hands down when it comes to NBA chips. Curry boasts three championships while Durant’s tally stops at two. But there has always been a question mark hovering over Durant’s rings.
The former Oklahoma City Thunder prodigy is often discredited and lambasted for his decision to join the 73-9 Warriors team that was already formidable. The move was seen as weak and the easiest route to NBA glory.
Since then, there's been an unending debate going on, that for Durant to be considered an all-time great, he has to earn a ring with his own team, where he should be the leader, as he was at the Oklahoma City Thunder. As for Curry, NBA pundits reckon that his 2015 NBA ring, that one ring alone, outweighs Kevin Durant’s two.
Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry: Who Tops The Numbers?
Durant has averaged 27.0 points per game throughout his career. That return looks even more impressive considering only four players in the history of the NBA/ABA; Michael Jordan (30.12), Wilt Chamberlain (30.07) Elgin Baylor (27.36) and Jerry West (27.03); hold a better PPG.
Stephen Curry, on the other hand, has managed to score at 24.2 points per game in his career, making him 21st in the all-time offensive ratings.
Curry vs Durant: Who is a better leader?
Great players elevate their teammates' game. As simple as that. There was no limit to Scottie Pippen's ceiling when he was playing alongside Michael Jordan. At times, he was as good as Jordan.
Before joining the all-conquering Warriors team, Kevin Durant had All-Star Russell Westbrook and James Harden as teammates, while in Serge Ibaka and Jeff Green, he had players who could stretch the floor on both ends of the court. But Durant failed to win the title.
Curry was already an NBA champion when Durant joined the Warriors. But the two-time MVP still took the backseat. He had fewer possessions in and around the arc when Durant was on the court. No wonder, during the two championship-winning seasons, Durant clocked better numbers than Curry in the playoffs and pocketed back-to-back NBA Finals MVP awards.
Andrew Bogut from the Warriors' 2015 title-winning side revealed that, though the Warriors big-three - Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green - were all on the team, everyone had to take a backseat and accommodate accordingly when Kevin Durant joined the team in 2016.
“The biggest thing that I respect about Stephen Curry is, he has had to modify his game a little bit after those MVP runs.”
“He rolled with it. He took on a lesser role to an extent. He knew he would take fewer shots, he wouldn’t have the ball in his hands as much, and to go from that to back to where he is now, to flip that switch off I’m the guy again, I need to be a 30-point plus scorer, that’s hard to do.”
Stephen Curry lacks athleticism and height while Durant towers above two meters and boasts a 2.24-meter-wingspan. Durant’s height and big strides make him almost impossible to guard and unstoppable in fast-break; he's too tall for any defender to stop him from shooting the ball; irrespective of the position, while his huge strides and athleticism makes him both a good defender and a unique slasher.
But Durant has never been a ball handler. His vision remains with a big question mark. Curry, on the other hand, is one of the best orchestrators of the ball. Even when the teams double-teamed him, he never needed the ball to be a playmaker. He is the best floor spacer in the NBA at the moment.
Both Stephen Curry and Durant have some weaknesses. But when they became teammates, the duo liberated each other. The Warriors became an All-NBA offensive team.
So Durant Towers over Curry?
Points per game return make Durant better, but it’s not that simple. Basketball greatness shouldn’t be put on the numbers alone. There have been great players who have never tasted title glory, and scored at a lower rate than Durant and Curry, but that doesn’t make them lesser players.
You can easily interchange Curry and Durant's position on that ESPN's greatest NBA player list, and there will still be a room for debate.
Judging greatness has always been subjective. It's a subject for philosophers. What really matters is that Curry and Durant are still playing and have years to add to their legendary careers. Let's come back when the duo is no longer active. Until then, enjoy the ride!
