Celtics Legend Kevin Garnett Makes Controversial Statement About Stephen Curry
LeBron James super fans, cover your ears: an NBA legend just proclaimed Stephen Curry the GOAT of his era.
That legend happens to be Boston Celtics NBA champion and Hall of Fame power forward Kevin Garnett.
“I said this countless times: I think that we are in the Curry era,” Garnett said during a recent episode of the KG Certified podcast.
“You know, he is the GOAT of this era. When we talk about the long ball … the three ball, you got to talk about the Messiah of that long ball, you understand? And that’s how I look at it.”
Whether you sympathize with Garnett’s take here, or are more inclined to honor LeBron as the greatest player of the most recent era of NBA basketball, it’s clear that James and Curry are the two faces of that era.
What’s absolutely crazy about this is that LeBron and Curry were actually born in the same hospital in Akron, Ohio (four years apart), a fact that probably isn’t talked about enough.
For awhile, LeBron’s status as the greatest player of the era was pretty much unquestionable. He’s one of the most physically gifted athletes to ever step foot on an NBA floor, and he combines those gifts with an elite skill set that includes all-time great passing. He’s only become a reliable jump shooter later on in his career, but he was virtually unstoppable in every other facet of the game from a young age.
Curry’s reputation has grown stronger with time, arguably on a higher incline than LeBron’s. This might have something to do with the fact that Steph profoundly changed the entire sport in a way that takes years for people to begin to fully appreciate. LeBron’s singularity was apparent from his rookie season, and his subsequent dominance was obvious. Curry’s greatness is more subtle, but arguably just as impactful, if not more so.
It’s ironic that LeBron has so often been equated with Michael Jordan throughout his career, because in many ways, this LeBron-Curry era has been more similar to the Magic-Bird era of the 1980s (although it’s lasted much longer). This hasn’t been an NBA era defined by one dominant GOAT, but by two players.
If the second coming of Jordan is possible … if a single player is going to come along and rise above the rest of the league in such an astounding fashion … it hasn’t happened yet.