Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry versus James Harden isn’t a debate

Stephen Curry has led the Golden State Warriors to unparalleled greatness in recent years. There is no debate between him and James Harden.

The offseason basketball talk has gotten out of hand. Kendrick Perkins has spent most of his free time taking shots at the Golden State Warriors. Recently, he said he would have helped the Thunder beat Golden State in 2016. Now, he is claiming that James Harden is a better player than Stephen Curry.

Perkins had this to say of Harden on ESPN First Take:

"“As soon as he stepped foot into the [Houston] Rockets franchise, he made that franchise relevant again, Max. And I’m not discrediting Steph. Steph is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He’s a better all-around player than Steph Curry.”"

Before we dig into this, let’s acknowledge that Harden is a phenomenal player. Never before have we seen someone make the jump from Sixth Man of the Year to MVP. Harden has become as lethal of a scorer as the league has ever seen. But, he doesn’t touch Curry.

Harden versus Curry

Curry has spent the last five years dominating the Western Conference. Has Perkins forgotten that the Dubs weren’t relevant before Curry either?

On his way to winning back-to-back MVP’s, Curry propelled the Warriors to a five-year stretch that can go toe-to-toe with any dynasty in the league’s history. His unanimous MVP season is better than any single season from Harden and his three championships speak for themselves.

Above all else, Curry has beaten Harden in every matchup. The Warriors have eliminated the Rockets four times in the last five years. Even with an injured Kevin Durant in 2019, Curry poured in 33 second-half points to take down Harden.

This isn’t to take anything away from Harden. But to keep it blunt, there is no debating who the better player is between Curry and Harden.