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Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry is actually a good defender

By Gibson Lowenberg

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 30: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors blocks the shot of JaKarr Sampson #9 of the Philadelphia 76ers on January 30, 2016 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Warriors defeated the 76ers 108-105. 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 Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 30: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors blocks the shot of JaKarr Sampson #9 of the Philadelphia 76ers on January 30, 2016 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Warriors defeated the 76ers 108-105. 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 Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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Yes, you read that right. Wardell Stephen Curry is a good defensive player for the Golden State Warriors. Not just ‘much improved’ or ‘slightly’ above average. Good.

Curry is often described as the basketball equivalent of a nuclear bomb on offense, being one of, if not the, greatest basketball player in terms of offense ever with his unparalleled ability to shoot the ball while also being an elite finisher at the rim, playmaker, and ball handler. Don’t even get me started on his off-ball movement.,

Stephen Curry is more than an offensive superstar, he has become a legitimately good defender in his time with the Golden State Warriors.

However, throughout most of his career, the two-time MVP has been criticized by media and fans alike for being a defensive liability due to his height and frame.

While this has improved, he is still rarely called anything better than ‘much improved’ or ‘above average.’ Today, we are breaking that narrative open to reveal the truth about the incredible athlete that is Stephen Curry.

Throughout his career, Stephen Curry has averaged over a steal per game in every season he has played.

In the first nine consecutive seasons of Stephen Curry’s career, he averaged no less than a steal and a half per game and made it up to as much as 2.1 steals per game in the 2015-16 NBA season.

Curry has always had a knack for clogging passing lanes and using his high knowledge of the game has consistently been an issue for other teams off the ball playing elite team defense.

Many times, the Golden State Warriors run zones or have Curry against the second-best guards on opposing teams largely due to the fact that he is a great off-ball defender.

The big steal numbers he puts up are evidence of his activity away from the ball and his ability to anticipate a pass and deflect the ball to either disrupt the play or cause a turnover.

In comparison, Patrick Beverley has never averaged over 1.7 steals per game in his career. Even more, Defensive Player of the year Marcus Smart peaked at only 1.8 steals per game and averages fewer steals per game for his career.

Marcus Smart only averaged 0.3 more steals per game this season than Stephen Curry while averaging 0.1 fewer blocks per game than the former MVP.

Not only does Stephen Curry’s box score stats lineup with the best in the league, but his defensive rating does as well.

For those who don’t know, defensive rating a metric used to estimate how many points a team would have allowed if a player played all 48 minutes of a game based on how many points were scored while that player was on the floor.

Stephen Curry held a defensive rating of 107.6 in his 2021-22 outing. the winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award Marcus Smart was only slightly better sitting at 107.1.

Now full disclaimer, this is a stat that is influenced by teammates as well. However, the Boston Celtics had a better defense than the Golden State Warriors allowing 0.4 points less per game.

The Warriors were also without Draymond Green for 38 games this season while the Celtics were far healthier and have fewer defensive liabilities like Jordan Poole or Nemanja Bjelica on their roster.

This means that this stat is actually skewed in the favor of Marcus Smart rather than Curry.

One elite defender with a worse defensive rating than Stephen Curry is Patrick Beverley who was at 110.8.

Visually, Curry has been a good defensive player for a while. Including these playoffs where he made great defensive plays against numerous elite players including Ja Morant, Luka Doncic, and Jayson Tatum, including a few that won the game for the Warriors.

Often times players attempt to take Curry one on one on the perimeter and fail more often than most would think due to his incredibly under-the-radar ability to play defense at an NBA level.

All in all, Stephen Curry may not be an elite defensive piece worthy of an All-Defensive team nod, but he is very far from being a liability on that end of the floor.

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