Steph Curry vs Allen Iverson

[tank2009]

I saw this comparison somewhere and wondered what BBN fans would think....I was a little surprised how many people were picking iverson but after thinking about his career....he is right up there with greatest small guards ever to play.

I really like guys who come from tough backgrounds and make it. And Iverson was just a pure bad ass his whole career on and off the court.

I appreciate steph had a total opposite life really with parents being nba alums, but that makes it interesting he still had the toughness to make his own way and obviously you cant do what he has done without being a stone cold killer mentality in the innocent face.

Basketball wise....loved iverson and his fearless game but when all is said and done steph has taken bandles and shooting to a new level plus won championship so i would have to give him the nod.

 

[jedwar]

Was Iverson coming to UK until the bowling alley brawl? Seems like I recall that.

 

[Smashcat]

In depth comparison chart
http://www.landofbasketball.com/player_comparison/c/stephen_curry_vs_allen_iverson.htm

 

[Teachable Moe]

I appreciate steph had a total opposite life really with parents being nba alums.

Somebody is due the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

 

[JonathanW]

Iverson couldn't hold Curry's jock. Iverson was tough. But he scored because of the volume of shots. Wasn't he like a 40% shooter, and <35% from 3.

 

[.S&C.]

Look, I believe with every fiber the NBA is a shell of its former self, but SC is better with a team than Iverson was. Iverson was something else, but IMO no.

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

AI couldnt hold Currys jock? Get real, pound for pound he is the absolute toughest player ever in the NBA, dude put all he had into it . 165lbs soaking wet, Curry has at least 20lbs on him and still dosent throw himself around like AI did.

 

[.S&C.]

AI couldnt hold Currys jock? Get real, pound for pound he is the absolute toughest player ever in the NBA, dude put all he had into it . 165lbs soaking wet, Curry has at least 20lbs on him and still dosent throw himself around like AI did.

Can't argue with that.

 

[Hoskins91]

AI was tough and a great athlete, but he never approached the efficiency Curry is currently playing at, and you don't have the to deal with the bs.

 

[kyups01]

Steph Curry is nowhere near as quick as Iverson, sorry. Ivy would take him to school one on one...team setting, Curry.

 

[JonathanW]

Can't argue with that.

Oh but you can!
Thought we were comparing basketball skills, not toughness. Chuck Hayes was/is tough too, but I'd take Dirk in his prime over him. Now as we UK fans are seeing this year, toughness is important, but it significantly trails skill and basketball IQ.

 

[mj2k10]

AI couldnt hold Currys jock? Get real, pound for pound he is the absolute toughest player ever in the NBA, dude put all he had into it . 165lbs soaking wet, Curry has at least 20lbs on him and still dosent throw himself around like AI did.

And doesn't miss a trillion shots like Iverson did.

I don't get how some people can't seem to grasp that missing a ton of shots counts against you. Iverson was one of the great isolation players in basketball history, a freakish athlete who could get a shot off just about any time he wanted . But Curry is, almost without question, the greatest shooter the game has ever seen, and since we're not talking about boxers here, toughness is way in the background when it comes to the overall quality of a player.

 

[K_TIME]

Some of you people are plain drunk...Curry is greater than Iverson at the same 7 year mark and it isn't even close

- Iverson scored 26 pts a game and an awesome 2.2 steals a game with 6 assist vs. 3.6 TO a game...but he shot 42%FG and 31%3pt to get those points.

- Curry scores 21 pts a game, 1.7 steals with 6.8 assist vs. 3.2 TOs a game...but he shoots an incredible 47%FG and a scorching 44%3pt percentage. That is over a 10% difference from 3pt line and 5% on all FG....

I don't care how tough you want label...shooting and missing alot less is better than shooting and missing more while being "tough"

 

[Nubb16]

Let's see how steph ends his career when it is over. AI couldn't seem to function as a team unit. I loved AI one of my favorite players. But steph has shown ability to lead a team to a championship.

 

[CELTICAT]

Iverson took lots and lots of long twos. Basically a huge portion of his game wouldn't be allowed today.

Iverson, for all his faults, was an amazing talent. I think efficiency gives the nod to Curry, but that doesn't make AI a scrub by any means.

And I do think if you're picking a one on one game, AI would win easily.

 

[UPSCat4080]

Some of you people are plain drunk...Curry is greater than Iverson at the same 7 year mark and it isn't even close

- Iverson scored 26 pts a game and an awesome 2.2 steals a game with 6 assist vs. 3.6 TO a game...but he shot 42%FG and 31%3pt to get those points.

- Curry scores 21 pts a game, 1.7 steals with 6.8 assist vs. 3.2 TOs a game...but he shoots an incredible 47%FG and a scorching 44%3pt percentage. That is over a 10% difference from 3pt line and 5% on all FG....

I don't care how tough you want label...shooting and missing alot less is better than shooting and missing more while being "tough"

Love how 47% gets an incredible label, but 42% is so subpar in comparison it gets nothing lol.

AI in his prime would kill Curry and steal his lunch money while he was at it. Curry can't compare to AI on offense or defense. Do you think Curry could shake AI and his quickness....hell no.

 

[lakercat]

Curry is the Greatest Of All-Time; ergo, Curry > Iverson. Iverson was great, but he went on Kobe-like chuck-fests.

 

[jameslee32]

Steph Curry + Allen Iverson < Grayson Allen

 

[CGblue]

AI no doubt.

 

[Hoskins91]

Love how 47% gets an incredible label, but 42% is so subpar in comparison it gets nothing lol.

AI in his prime would kill Curry and steal his lunch money while he was at it. Curry can't compare to AI on offense or defense. Do you think Curry could shake AI and his quickness....hell no.

So no stats, you're just gonna make a baseless statement and expect everybody to accept it...cool.

 

[mj2k10]

Love how 47% gets an incredible label, but 42% is so subpar in comparison it gets nothing lol.

AI in his prime would kill Curry and steal his lunch money while he was at it. Curry can't compare to AI on offense or defense. Do you think Curry could shake AI and his quickness....hell no.

Here's someone who failed math as a kid.

So this response is probably pointless, but I'll try...

Steph Curry is shooting 47.5% (3392/7148 career) in a league where the average shooting % has ranged from .448 to .461 (with the usual average closer to 45%). So he's above average just using %. But now add in 3 pointers. Curry has made 1392 of those, at a .442 clip. So, Curry's 7148 shots have been worth 8146 points. That is, in a word, incredible. That's the equivalent of shooting .569 on 2 points shots, which isn't far from Shaq territory (Shaq shot .582 for his career).

I won't even bother to compare that to Iverson's career numbers, I'll just focus on one year- AI's MVP year of 2000-2001, since it's a pretty good indication of what you were getting from AI at his best. He shot .420 that year, in a league where the average shooting % was .443. He hit 98/302 threes that year, meaning his 1813 shots were worth 1622 points. In a word, sub-par, as in below league average.

Anyone should be able to see the rather dramatic contrast there.

AI made up for some of that inefficiency by getting to the line at an astronomical rate- 10.1 times per game in 2000-2001- and being a decent shooter from there (78% career, over 81% in 00-01). Curry, given the nature of his game, has shot very few FT's (3.7 per game, although that's up to 6.6 this year. And, of course, he nails them at a 90% rate ). Still, that hardly makes up for the staggering difference in overall efficiency.

 

[musrat59]

I think Curry likes to practice better than Iverson.

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

Iverson chucked alot because he had booty for teamates in Philly. And how could you discredit toughness? Come on man, thats precisely what took that Philly team to the freaking finals. Would steph curry lead that same team? Not so sure.....

 

[TheShowKiller]

If you like the best shooter of all time, elite passer, elite ball handler, great teammate, and winner. Well, Curry is your guy.

If you want a freakish athlete head case who had to have a team specially built around him so he could run around and jack the ball up 30 times a game without making anyone around him better, then I guess the Answer is for you.

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

Curry isnt even the best shooter this year..that honor falls to Kawai Lenoard. CHeck your stats...

 

[K_TIME]

Nobody is saying AI wasn't tough...or even a great player. He just isn't going to measure up statistically (or winning) compared to Curry. Same as Drik can't measure up to a great like Duncan. Drexler to a great like Jordan, etc... These are guys in different atmospheres of greatness.

AI did this with a defensive first team in Mutumbo, Theo Ratliff, Aaron McKie, Eric Snow, etc..but to be honest....when AI got around better offensive talent, he struggled to gel with other really good players.

Also, some people get star struck with individual moves, AI's crossover, etc... but the nights were he'd go 7 for 28 are just as much part of his fabric are the great plays. Curry's best years are ahead of him...so the story he's writing has really just begun.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

AI couldnt hold Currys jock? Get real, pound for pound he is the absolute toughest player ever in the NBA, dude put all he had into it . 165lbs soaking wet, Curry has at least 20lbs on him and still dosent throw himself around like AI did.

True. But that has nothing to do with whos the better player.

The only scenario Id ever choose AI over Curry, would be one where the entire rest of the team were just total scrubs. Otherwise, its Curry.

 

[Deli owl]

Allen was a volume shooter who shot a low percentage and palmed the ball every time he made a move. Very athletic though.

 

[JonathanW]

Exactly ^^^!!!

Iverson's stats:
Career: 42.5% overall, 31.3% from 3, 44.8% on 2's
Prime (Philly years) 42.1% overall, 30.9% from 3, 44.4% on 2's
So his career and prime year #'s are about the same.
Only twice did he make 45% or more of his shots, and he never made 35% of his 3's, or 50% of his 2's.

Curry's stats:
Career: 47.5% overall, 44.2% from 3, 49.8% on 2's
This year: 52.0% overall, 45.3% from 3, 59.6% on 2's
So over his career he has shot 5% overall better than Iverson, 13% better from 3, and 5% better on 2's.
That is a LOT more misses by Iverson. Sure he was a great defender. But a missed shot is like 3/4 or 2/3 of a TO (because you're opponent is getting the ball 3/4 or 2/3 of the time you miss a shot).

Conclusion: Those of you equating Iverson to Curry, or even Iverson > Curry, are smoking/drinking some heavy duty stuff.

 

[UPSCat4080]

So no stats, you're just gonna make a baseless statement and expect everybody to accept it...cool.

My statement was for those who actually saw Iverson play. Not someone like you who has never watched a full game of Iverson when you actually knew what was going on (maybe still don't) past the age of 10.

 

[UKDUNK]

Put Curry on AI's 6'ers teams and he would not be as efficient either. Iverson had to carry those teams on his back so of course he took a ton of shots. I would have loved to have seen AI with two all-star caliber players on his team like what GS has put around Curry.

 

[jrpross]

If they're playing a game of one-on-one, sure I'll take Iverson. Easiest way to win is to take your man to the hole. AI was awesome at that. But basketball is not one-on-one. Basketball is the TEAM that scores the most points. If you're going to put one or the other on a team, I take Steph 10 times out of 10.

 

[jockstrap_mcgee]

Curry is superior and the only way you can legitimately argue Iverson is comparing his best season to Curry's best.

That said, Curry may only be halfway into his career and he's the kind of player that likely won't see a huge drop off in efficiency as he gets older. Iverson, on the other hand, had a huge, continental shelf sized drop off once he left Philly.

 

[UPSCat4080]

Put Curry on AI's 6'ers teams and he would not be as efficient either. Iverson had to carry those teams on his back so of course he took a ton of shots. I would have loved to have seen AI with two all-star caliber players on his team like what GS has put around Curry.

Ding ding ding.

Curry has Dramon Green and Klay Thompson.

AI had Eric Snow and Aaron McKie.

Do you really want to compare?