Is Stephen Curry Better than Kobe Bryant Was?

Career Numbers

Here’s an overview of Stephen Curry’s and Kobe Bryant’s career averages.

Curry is in his seventh season while Bryant is in his eighteenth.

The Laker guard has played three thousand more minutes and three times the games the Splash Brother has. So comparing career totals right now doesn’t make that much sense across the board. But let’s take a look at career averages.

Bryant’s scoring and rebounding numbers are slightly higher. As a 6’6 scoring shooting guard, that makes sense. Curry averages over three more assists while shooting the ball at a much higher clip from everywhere.

Aside from traditional per game stats, it’s valuable to look at Per 100 possessions to see how effective these players have really been. Curry’s offensive rating is higher (116 to Bryant’s 110) while his defensive rating is slightly lower (106 to Bryant’s 105).

Bryant is considered to be one of the most dominant offensive players since Michael Jordan and yet Curry’s career numbers show that he has produced more. Bryant has been named to thirteen All-Defense teams yet his DRtg is just ahead of Curry’s, despite the dominant narrative that the point guard is a poor defensive player.

It’s also noteworthy that, per Basketball Reference, Curry’s PER is higher, albeit by a slim margin. His Win Shares per 48 minutes is also higher.

Bryant has had a much more successful career and he’s done it for a long time, but it seems as if Curry is on his way to producing more than the shooting guard did.

Next: MVP Side by Side