NBA legend Tracy McGrady recently made a very controversial Steph Curry statement that has Golden State Warriors fans calling him out.
“He hasn’t cracked my top-10 yet,” McGrady said of Curry. “He just hasn’t. I think Steph has had a phenomenal career. Obviously four championships, two league MVPs, he has a Finals MVP. But if you go back in his career and you look at when Draymond [Green] is out of the lineup for a season, if you look at Klay Thompson has missed a season… If you’re that great, if you’re gonna be a top-five (player) and one of your guys are missing and you can’t make the playoffs, I can’t put you in the top-five or top-10. I just can’t.”
Referencing the 2021 season, McGrady said Curry cannot be top-10 all-time because the Warriors missed the playoffs that year. While the NBA’s talent makes these rankings difficult, McGrady’s justification for keeping Curry out of his top-10 makes no sense.
In 2021, the season McGrady is referencing, Curry led the league in scoring at 32.0 PPG, finishing third in MVP voting. In the 63 games Curry played that season, the Warriors went 37-26 (.587), which would have been good for the 5th seed in the Western Conference. The reason Golden State missed the playoffs that year was because the team went 2-7 in the nine games Curry missed.
As fans have pointed out, LeBron James and other indisputable all-time greats have also missed the playoffs – and while there is context involved in those instances, there certainly is in Curry’s case as well.
If anything, Curry’s 2021 campaign should strengthen his case for top-10 all-time, as he carried an abysmal Warriors roster to a 37-26 record.