Draymond Green praises Stephen Curry, who was team’s highest-graded defender last month

The Golden State Warriors only have the second-best record in the NBA because of the work two-time MVP Stephen Curry has put in. He’s better than he used to be and that’s especially true on the defensive side of the court.

Curry should be seen as the frontrunner for MVP. The main reason why is because of his dominance on the offensive end of the court. The 6-foot-2 Curry is averaging 27.2 points per game.

Per Draymond Green, who praised Stephen Curry’s defense and work ethic, the two-time MVP was the highest-graded Warriors defender last month.

Curry also broke the all-time three-point record earlier in the season. Averaging 5.3 triples per game, Curry is shooting more threes this season than any other in his career. He’s launching from deep and still connecting at a high level.

While that’s great and all, what’s helped Curry elevate his game to an even higher level is his tenacity on the defensive end. It used to be that Curry was a liability, even though he led the league in steals per game MVP-winning 2015-2016 campaign.

Curry has upped his defensive aptitude, and one huge reason why is the work that he’s been putting in in the weight room. As three-time All-Star and DPOY frontrunner Green noted, Curry’s movement laterally has improved tremendously.

Curry’s been so good defensively that he topped Mike Brown‘s defensive grading sheet last season, per Green’s conversation with Doris Burke.

The numbers aren’t necessarily there for Curry in terms of steals and blocks. He’s currently averaging 1.6 steals and 0.5 blocks per game. The blocks are more than double his career average while the steals are barely under his career average.

However, the most important factor for Curry is that the Warriors team defense is, by far, the best in the NBA. Curry has a 97.9 defensive rating, drastically better than the team’s overall defensive rating which is parked at 101.2.

Milwaukee’s George Hill is the only player in the NBA that’s played in more than 20 games and played in more than 20 minutes per game and has a defensive rating better than Curry. Hill is currently sitting at 97.6.

Curry is the second-best player in defensive rating while also being arguably the best offensive player in the NBA. He’s been absolutely phenomenal and deserves more praise than he’s currently getting.