Stephen Curry vs. LeBron James: Who is the Best Player in the NBA?

LeBron James inherited the “Best Player in the World” title from Kobe Bryant circa 2008 or 2009, and since then, fans and media have tried to crown the next player to dethrone the King at the top of the NBA food chain.

Over the past few seasons, many have thought Kevin Durant would be the one to inherit the top spot, and recently Anthony Davis was also at the top of many people’s list. Despite winning the MVP last season, few outside of the Bay Area were ready to anoint Stephen Curry the best player in the league, with reasons varying from him being a glorified shooter to benefiting from the best supporting cast in the league.

With Curry’s torrid start to the 2015-2016 season, the NBA universe’s vote as to who the best player in the league is seems to be split right down the middle.

Let’s see if we can dive in and clarify things a little bit.

Entering this NBA season, many who follow the league said that Curry had peaked out and couldn’t get any better, mostly because his game is predicated around his shooting ability. Curry may have not had the most eye-popping stats in 2015, but his impact when he is on the court might be greater than that of anyone else in the league. When Curry is on the floor, the court is automatically spaced, which make it easy for teammates to get wide open shots and cutting lanes. As soon as Curry crosses half court, the defense has to immediately pick him up due to his range, and sometimes an extra defender will come at him and attempt to trap him. Once Curry passes the ball, it becomes a 4-on-3 with the defense, which leads to an open three for Klay Thompson or an easy dunk for Harrison Barnes.

Nov 14, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dribbles the ball around Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) during the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

James is one of the few players in the NBA where you could put him on ANY NBA team and they’ll become a contender. Put him on the Sixers with their underrated coach Brett Brown and they’d go to the Eastern Conference Finals every year. Warriors fans experienced this first hand when James and his AAU-esque squad took the Warriors to six games in the Finals with running mates J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova. He makes everyone around him better, and he is the ideal on court leader and teammate. LeBron has always been pass first, but he knows when he has to take over the game and be THE guy.

In order to figure out who the best player in the league is, we have to come to an agreement as to the definition of the best player. You could easily say that LeBron is the best player just because he can do more in a sense…play and guard all five positions, post up, get to the basket etc., and you could easily call Curry the most skilled player in the league, with his handle and shooting ability. It’s hard to succeed with Curry’s size and stature if you don’t have the skillset to push you over the top, as opposed to somebody like LeBron who has the advantage of size. My personal definition of the best player is the player who has the BIGGEST impact on the outcome of any given game.

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Let’s be honest: the Warriors without Curry are an eighth seed. With Curry on the bench this season, Golden State is scoring 96.9 points per 48 minutes. With him on the floor, they’re scoring 119.5 points per 48 minutes. Time and time again, Curry will come back into the game in the fourth quarter and save the Warriors after an offensive dry spell that keeps the other team in the game.

Other than Curry, the Warriors have one above average scorer in Klay Thompson, and he’s as reliable as the BART train. The Warriors don’t have the advantage of a big man with a post presence anymore (David Lee), so having Curry on the floor is essential to Warriors’ success. Think of the Warriors as an ice cream sundae. The ice cream part is the Warriors’ supporting cast — shooters, players with high basketball IQ and excellent defenders — and Curry is the cherry on top: the superstar to push them to contention. Teams like the Celtics and Bucks could be contenders, but they don’t have the “cherry”.

LeBron is LeBron, but he’s played a lot of minutes in his career, and at nearly 31 years old his best days are might be behind him. He been battling a bad back this season, and no matter what kind of stats he puts up, you have to worry about that. LeBron nine times out of ten doesn’t get blocked here, especially with the game on the line.

James might still be the best player in the NBA, but the Chef is coming.

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