Top 50 players of 2012 #41 Stephen Curry

By Bryan Thompson | Published August 18, 2012

Stephen Curry is the very first Golden State Warrior to appear on the countdown and is also the second point guard to get a spot on the list.

2012 Stats:

14.7 points per game
5.3 assists per game
1.5 steals per game
.490 FG%

Founded in 1946, the Golden State Warriors has had a harvest of hall of fame players that brought them to the promise land. In the first year in the association, they won the championship with Joe Fulks paving the way for a historic finish. 1956 led by legends Paul Arizin, Michael Johnston, and Neil Bryson. Few years later the Warriors drafted the matchless or known as”The Big Dipper” Wilt Chamberlain. 1965 they acquired Rick Barry. The list of legends the Golden State Warriors has obtained goes on and on. To TMC, to the “we believe era”, and onto the Stephen Curry era. With a fresh new coach, Mark Jackson improved Stephen’s his game from the fundamentals of Mark Jackson obtained when he and Reggie Miller led the show for the Indiana Pacers in the mid 90′s. Jackson dished out 10,334 assists to become 3rd all time in career assists. The Jackson and Miller back-court duo was pretty scary for the opposing teams. Reggie had an intimidating jump shot and probably the most consistent 3 point shooter of all time.

However for Curry, he is a very gifted scorer, considering his dad Dell Curry played a handful of seasons for multiple teams. Curry is an offensive phenom with a consistent jumper plus he has leadership skills that could produce prodigious tools for the franchise in coming years. Curry needs to mature more before he becomes a true all star. Often he gambles for steals, shots in traffic, and that produces either turnovers or fouls. Curry can get a bundle of steals at times but gets in foul trouble often and when he goes for an on-ball steal, his opponent often roasts Curry for an easy jump-shot or a pair of free throws.

Curry has elite ball handling skills, a consistent 3 point shot, and a high-percentage jump shot, and gets to the bucket. His court vision is resourceful for his teammates and uses his I.Q is agile for a point guard. He has also has had a Tim Tebow type of story for his life; despite his dad playing in the NBA. In high-school he was just a long-shot. No one gave him a shot because of his size and College scouts questioned his aggressiveness. Curry attended Davidson University and brought the pack to the elite eight. Curry’s skill-set for scoring translated success for himself to the NBA and lighted up the league. He has that underdog type of mentality that keeps him going and often stays on his grind.

The big issue with Curry, is that he is one of the biggest injury-prone players in the game today; missed half of 2012, missed a chunk in 2010-2011, and his list of injuries go on and on. As long as Curry can stay healthy, he has the potential to be an all-star for the Warriors organization and potentially become the NBA’s leading scorer.

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