The 2016 NBA Finals are not about LeBron James against Stephen Curry. If that was the case, one player would dominate every time.
Anything Stephen Curry can do, we feel we can do. Through the dazzling dribbling, fancy footwork, and ridiculously mesmerizing shooting, Curry’s smallish stature lends fans to believe basketball greatness is, indeed, possible.If a guy close to our height is doing it, why couldn’t we all dream of being Steph?
LeBron James – Curry’s opponent for the second straight season in the NBA Finals – is slightly different. Actually, LeBron’s entire persona is completely opposite of Steph’s.
At 6’8”, 250 lbs., James is a freight train. Not only does he resemble a locomotive becuase of his ridiculous size, but his speed and athleticism for a man of his size mirrors nothing we’ve ever seen.
LeBron is a guy none of us can identify with.
Unfortunately for the little guys in the world, size does count. Size, athleticism, speed, strength – it all counts toward the entire package. With that in mind, when comparing the two greatest players in the NBA at this moment in time, there is no comparison.
LeBron James is head and shoulders above Stephen Curry.
Here are a few indisputable reasons why:
Begin Slideshow
Defense
What many fail to fully grasp is just how important defense is to the game of basketball. That end of the floor you stick by four teammates with while the other team dribbles into your territory accounts for 50 percent of the game.
Not 25 percent, or even 40 percent. It accounts for half of your game.
The NBA’s MVP is a pretty substandard defender.
When Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were both asked if they thought Curry’s defense was underrated, they had every reason to laugh. At the same time, their defense isn’t the greatest either.
Curry graded out at +0.96 in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus this season. This was actually a better defensive mark than Westbrook’s +0.75. He also finished with a better mark than Westbrook in defensive rating.
Conversely, James not only finished with the best Real Plus-Minus in the NBA (Curry was second) but he was second among all small forwards in Defensive Real Plus-Minus.
James has continued his defensive dominance into the playoffs, carrying lackluster defenders Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. James is lowering opponent’s field goal percentage by -12.8%.
That number becomes even more impressive closer to the basket, as James is lowering opponent’s field goal percentage within six feet of the rim by -21% (via NBA Stats).
Not many superstars can also claim they are the anchor of the defense. James is just that. Without question. He’s one of the five best on ball defenders in the league.
The problem for Curry backers is we’re comparing him to LBJ, not Westbrook.
Never does Curry get asked to defend the other team’s best player. James is asked frequently. On a squad of 15 roles are clearly defined, and one of James’s roles is to be the team’s best defensive player. For Golden State, that role is reserved for Klay Thompson and/or Draymond Green.
In this evolving world of NBA defensive stats, numbers can be thrown every which way. What they are, though, are just numbers.
Defense on the basketball court is one of the few areas of sport that numbers never do justice for. Your eyes tell most of the story (hell James Harden).
The physical specimen LeBron is lends him the ability to guard any player on the opposing team. This is especially the case in this new-age NBA where the traditional center is extinct.
It’s not even a contest. There’s nothing wrong with Curry winning back-to-back MVPs. His offensive ability is unreal and leading the charge on a 73-win team is nothing short of historic. But when it comes to drilling down who’s better on the defensive side of the ball – accounting for half of a basketball player’s attributes – James annihilates Curry.
The the two were to play a one-on-one game, I think Curry would only be able to score twice in 10 tries.
Basketball IQ
No disrespect to Steph, as his basketball IQ is great, but LeBron’s is legendary.
The casual onlooker just doesn’t understand.
They see the complete physical package. They see this force of nature who was born with unfair talent most dudes would give their left arm up for. (Well, if the left arm is gone, the talent wouldn’t really matter.)
Anyway, fans see and drool all over James. Envious could be a word frequently used.
What often goes hidden in the complete package that is a LeBron James, is just how damn smart he is on the court.
His on-court IQ makes Magic Johnson blush. It’s that simple.
The only area Steph owns LeBron in is perimeter shooting. There’s really no contest. Steph’s shot is picturesque.
When you delve into the numbers, however, each shoots at a certain extraordinary percentage.
LeBron has shot at a .498 clip for his career from the floor. This past season he shot at a ridiculous .520 mark. Steph went .504 from the floor this season in comparison to his .477 percentage for his career. James has averaged 26.9 points per game to Curry’s 22.4.
Folks, it doesn’t matter how you get the points. All that matters is the percentage for which you’re getting them. This directly supports James’s basketball IQ.
Another stat supporting his smarts comes to sharing the basketball. In no way, shape or form is Curry anything less than stellar when it comes to dishing and diming, but James is better. Both guys have an identical 6.9 dimes per game to their career slate, and LeBron is doing it from a forward position.
After ranking ninth in the league in assists per game, James has ranked in the top ten in that category in seven of his thirteen seasons.
Both guys are equipped with extraordinary sharing abilities and court vision.
Where the IQ portion really separates is when defense comes into play. James’s defensive mind would be sorely disrespected if you, in any way, compared it to Steph’s.
Versatility
Never is Stephen Curry asked to do more than play great offense.
Steve Kerr has a specific and designed role for the two-time MVP. He’s the point guard who shoots it from the parking garage after running off crazy indirect screens while also sharing the basketball for Klay Thompson and the rest of the band.
Curry’s role is clear-cut. LeBron James’s role is out of this world.
If the guy leaves Cleveland, the organization turns into a 20-win squad. When he comes back, they’re title contenders. When LBJ leaves Miami, they don’t have what it takes to win the East.
Do you think six consecutive East Championships are coincidence? Absolutely not. This guy does more for his basketball team that anything we’ve seen in a long time in this league.
The reason he can do it is directly attributed to his freakish versatility.
Their playoff numbers are indicative of two completely different players. While both are handling the ball the entire game, they couldn’t be more different in their outlooks.
[graphiq id=”94KpcTqeQqV” title=”LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry 2016 Playoff Stats” width=”600″ height=”503″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/94KpcTqeQqV” link=”http://basketball-players.pointafter.com” link_text=”LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry 2016 Playoff Stats | PointAfter” ]The only two players who can even come close to resembling this prototype are Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson. That’s it. LeBron James is something we’ve never seen before.
Should he lose this series, marking his fifth NBA Finals loss, he’ll be hammered. There’s no question about that. Steph Curry will receive all the accolades even if Andre Iguodala notches his second straight MVP.
What folks need to keep in mind is that James wills his teams to a point they simply don’t deserve. They move past their true talent base simply because he’s so dominant.
His greatness will ultimately destroy a lot of his legend. Because he was so great, he made a ton of finals appearances, and thus, will be hammered for losing so many.
The Dubs are clearly the better team. It’s not even close. Putting aside how poor Kyrie Irving is on defense and how overrated Kevin Love is overall, the Warriors depth is supremely talented in comparison to the Cavs.
In many ways, those people who are jealous of LeBron’s unique physical package also throw some envy into the pot thanks to the unfortunate position he puts himself in once he gets to the NBA Finals.
This position is having his team severely over-matched through no fault of his own.
The truth is it doesn’t matter which team comes out on top in this series. LeBron James is the much greater basketball player than Stphen Curry.