#3: John Stockton vs. Steph Curry
Stockton: Prime from 1987/88-1999/00 (13 seasons!), 14.9 PPG, 12.0 APG, 52.1 FG%, 37.5 3P%, and 1 awesome State Farm twin -Don Stockton.
Curry: Prime 2012/13-2014/15, 23.6 PPG, 7.7 APG, 46.9 FG%, and 43.0 3P%.
Okay, before I enrage the entire state of Utah and therefore the Mormon Church, 3 important points:
-Yes, Stockton’s assist numbers were bonkers but they occurred in an era when the requirements for an assist became mysteriously easier to hit.
-Stockton lucked into playing with one of the greatest power forwards in the history of basketball. In an era when rugged power forwards were at the height of their power, playing with Karl Malone was the ultimate blessing. While Klay Thompson may compliment Curry better than any other shooting guard in the league, he’s not a future Top 20 Player of All-Time -Stockton had that running mate.
-There’s a clear difference between being an offense’s primary threat and being an extremely capable secondary threat. Calling Stockton the Robin to Malone’s Batman would be doing Stockton an incredible disservice, but he wasn’t a defense’s top priority. It is here where Curry eclipses Stockton. Curry’s more affective on offense while drawing more coverage than Utah’s Golden Boy.