Blue Man Hoop
Fansided

Stephen Curry vs LeBron James: An All-Time great debate

By Tony Pesta

CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 08: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts against Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors during Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 08: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts against Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors during Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Regular season success

For most of the decade, the Golden State Warriors have dominated the regular season. Peaking with a record-breaking 73-9 season in 2016, the Dubs have had five consecutive seasons of 55 or more wins.

In contrast, James has seen less success in the regular season recently. He reached an all-time low last season, missing the playoffs entirely with the Los Angeles Lakers. Before that, he had a number of controversy-filled years in Cleveland. He had his best regular season of the decade in Miami when the Heat went 66-16 in 2013.

Looking strictly at individual accomplishments, Curry has quite a few accolades. He claimed back-to-back MVP’s and led the league in scoring once. A total of six All-Star games and six All-NBA selections make up the decade for Curry.

Stephen Curry since 2010:

  • 2x MVP
  • 6x All-Star
  • 6x All-NBA
  • 1x Scoring Title
  • 1x Steals Champion

As for James, he has had just as much (if not more) individual success in the regular season. In total, James blows Curry out of the water in this category because his career is much longer. However, if we look strictly at this decade, James still rivals Curry’s accolades in every way.

LeBron James since 2010:

  • 3x MVP
  • 10x All-Star
  • 10x All-NBA
  • 5x All-Defensive
  • 1x All-Star MVP

This may come as surprise for many who have forgotten how dominant James was at the top of the decade. He has admittedly taken his foot off the gas in the regular season recently, but his success at the beginning of the decade is undeniable.

More recently, James has averaged 26.3 points, 8.1 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game since 2014. This closely rivals Curry’s numbers of 26.5 points, 6.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds a night.

It should be noted that James played each season as the clear-cut number one option, while Curry played three seasons in Kevin Durant’s shadow. With this being said, Curry and James both have extremely similar usage rates since 2014, with James at 31.3 percent and Curry at 30.6 percent.

We should also mention that James played this entire decade in his prime whereas Curry didn’t hit his stride until 2015. Of course, this argument could easily be rebuked with the fact that James has dominated the era and avoided any decline in his game despite racking up an insane amount of career milage.

Home/Warriors News