During the Golden State Warriors’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Steph Curry put up 36 points and six assists in 38 minutes while shooting 10-of-20 from the field, 7-of-12 from beyond the arc and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line.
However, the Warriors lost in overtime by five points, so they will now have to win one play-in game to make the 2025 playoffs. Golden State will face the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday at home.
During the Warriors-Clippers game, an interesting moment happened with Curry near the end of regulation. The two-time MVP was taken out with 17.0 seconds left for defensive purposes and replaced by Kevon Looney.
With the score tied at 111, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard missed a shot at the buzzer for the win, sending the game into overtime. However, Lakers Daily (an account which covers the Los Angeles Lakers), asked a question on social media about Curry being taken out on defense during crunch time, sparking a huge debate.
NBA fans began to reply to Lakers Daily’s tweet in a hurry. Some fans believe Curry can still be a top-10 player of all time despite being taken out for defense in crunch time, while others don’t buy it.
“Absolutely not. Been saying that for years,” one fan said.
“Tbh no,” another fan said.
Curry has won four championships, two MVPs and one Finals MVPs. He’s made the most 3-pointers in NBA history and will be in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame one day.
An 11-time All-Star, Curry is undoubtedly one of the greatest players of all time. However, there’s a divide amongst NBA fans if the Davidson product is one of the 10 greatest players ever due to his defensive limitations.
“Nope,” one fan said.
“I mean Curry is top ten and he gets subbed out,” another fan said.
Curry has never made an All-Defensive team during his stellar career. Meanwhile, some of the greats in NBA history such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant made multiple All-Defensive teams.
“He is not top 10. You can’t be if you’re objectively bad at multiple facets of the game and only score from one tier on offense,” one fan said about Curry.
“Defense matters,” another fan said. “He is top 15 tho.”
Curry will look to show his doubters that he can defend when it matters most on Tuesday when the Warriors host the Grizzlies at the Chase Center in a game Golden State must win to avoid going 0-4 in play-in games since the play-in tournament was invented in 2020.
