Stephen Curry ranks in the top 10 in five statistical categories. (GETTY IMAGES)
The race for the most valuable player in the NBA is too close to call. You can’t go wrong with LeBron James, James Harden, Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook. But when it comes to Fantasy hoops, there is no contest.
Steph Curry doesn’t look anything like an assassin, but he has become one of the most feared players in basketball and is the favorite to claim the NBA MVP award. Curry, known as the Baby Face Assassin, is posting video game-type numbers. Statistically speaking, he’s the best player on the league’s best squad. An absolute deadly combination.
The 27-year-old All-Star for the Golden State Warriors is the new breed of point guard. He’s a scorer as well as a playmaker, cut from the same cloth as former NBA greats Mark Price and Steve Nash. The scouting report on Curry coming out of Davidson was “he’ll likely to do a lot of his damage in spot-up situations, and he’s not going to be used a lot in one-on-one possessions.” Someone’s scouting department missed the boat on Curry.
To Curry’s credit, he diligently worked on his ball-handling skills and made himself into a triple-threat. When he’s rolling, he is nearly unguardable.
If you back off him, he’ll pull up from 25-feet and drill a 3-pointer from anywhere on the floor. If you charge at him and make him put the ball on the deck, he’s quick enough to take the ball all the way to the basket. And forget about fouling him because he shoots 91% from the free throw line.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr paid Steph a huge compliment when he compared him to future Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash. Kerr should know because he was the general manager with the Phoenix Suns when Nash played there.
“I first saw it when I was in Phoenix and I scouted Steph when he was at Davidson. I think he was a sophomore. We walked away going, ‘That’s the next Nash,’ ” Kerr told the Contra Costa Times.
“The combination of the ball-handling, the shooting, anticipation, feel — very similar skill set,” Kerr said. “Very different approach, though. Steve was really a pass-first point guard, a reluctant shooter in some ways. Steph is just an assassin out there with his shot. He’s looking to shoot first and set the game up with his passing and moving the ball and creating offense for others.”
Curry is the only player in the Association who ranks in the top 10 in points (23.4), assists (7.9), free-throw percentage (91.4%), 3-point field goals (3.4), and steals (2.1). He is an absolute beast in most nine-category Fantasy leagues. He can fill up all the boxes on a stat sheet with the exception of blocks. Only New Orleans Pelicans star forward Anthony Davis — ranked No. 1 in Yahoo Fantasy hoops — is the closest player in terms of Fantasy numbers. But the biggest difference is Curry, currently ranked No. 2 in Yahoo, has stayed relatively healthy for the last three seasons, while Davis has yet to play more than 70 games in his first three years.
And when it comes to shooting 3-pointers (considered Fantasy gold), no one has been more prolific than Steph. He set the NBA record for 3-pointers made in the season with 272 in the 2012-13 season. He followed that up with 261 in 2013-14, and he is on pace to get close to those marks this season.
If you are one of the lucky ones to own Curry, there is no reason you shouldn’t be playing for a Fantasy League championship.