Can Steph Curry SURPASS Michael Jordan As The GOAT

Whenever the GOAT conversation is brought up, 9 times out of 10, Michael Jordan's name comes out on top. I mean, sure, there are some people who would pick LeBron as their GOAT, and if they don't, they'd at least have him as the closest rival to Jordan. But, uh, what if I told you that perhaps another player in the league actually has a chance of dethroning MJ and pushing LeBron to number 3? At just 34 years old, Steph has already bagged 4 championships, became the first ever unanimous MVP, and has changed the way basketball is played forever. Let's look today and see where Steph already has MJ beat, vice versa, and what more needs to be done for someone to FINALLY dethrone Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time. Okay guys, first off, let's talk about their overall efficiency. If we just look at the numbers, it's easy to conclude that Michael was the more efficient shooter. I mean, 49 is better than 47, and that's that. But, uh, you see, this particular statistic is kinda misleading because it doesn't really show the big picture. And here's what I mean. Field goal percentage simply measures efficiency by dividing the number of made shots by the total number of shot attempts. Meaning to say that this stat doesn't account for where on the court the shot was made. To truly gauge efficiency, a better way is to use the stat called effective field goal percentage. Now, this is a much better indicator since it properly weighs the value of a 3-point shot compared to the common 2-point basket, whereas the original field goal percentage only represents the same point value for every type of shot made, regardless of whether that shot came from within the arc or beyond the arc. In this criteria, we see that Steph beats Jordan by a wide margin. And this just shows that Steph is the much more efficient scorer. It's not even a debate. Anyway guys, since we're discussing their efficiency, here's another fact that no one ever talks about. In the 2015-16 season, Steph averaged 30.1 points while shooting 50.4% from the field, 45.4% from three, and 90.8% from the stripe. And with this kind of stat line, he became a member of the prestigious 50-40-90 club. MJ, on the other hand, never made this club because, well, he just couldn't knock down threes. Especially in the beginning of his career. If you look at the percentages, the man couldn't make a 3-point bucket to save his life. I mean, in his first 4 years in the league, he averaged just 16.3% from beyond the arc. Sheesh, Draymond Green would look like a knockdown shooter if he stood next to MJ during those years. Anyway. Now, it's important to note that Michael did almost make the prestigious club once, back in 1996, where his shooting splits were 49.5, 42.7, and 83.4. But the thing is, back in 1996, the NBA's 3-point line was almost 2 feet shorter than it is currently. So it was practically just a long 2. After the NBA restored the line back to where it was, MJ's 3-point efficiency plummeted again, back to 23.8%. Anyway guys, here's another point that I wanted to make. Although MJ had significantly changed the NBA landscape, it wasn't as revolutionary as compared to what Steph did. I mean, without question, Jordan was one of, if not, the most athletic, lethal scorer in the NBA during his younger years. But, even in saying that, MJ was swept twice, by the Boston Celtics, and then for 3 straight years, by using the quote-unquote Jordan rules, the Detroit Pistons completely crushed the Bulls. And although Jordan finally overcame and swept them in 1991, a large part of that attributed to the fact that the Pistons were getting older, and were injury riddled. Meanwhile, with Steph, the other 29 teams have absolutely no clue whatsoever on how to defend or stop him, because it's their first time seeing someone who can shoot off the dribble with such insane efficiency, while doing it at an unlimited range. And thus, there has been no proven formula on how to neutralize the baby-faced assassin. They can only hope he misses. Next off, The Chef also completely changed how defense is being played in today's NBA, because most teams currently are shooting an absurd number of threes as a result of Steph, and with that being said, teams have had to adjust and extend their defensive schemes further beyond the arc, which changed the whole geometry of the game. And on offense, teams are now embracing the pace and space philosophy of floor spacing and ball movement, which again, can be credited back to Steph. Anyway, it's clear that Steph has done some stuff that MJ couldn't ever hope to do. Now let's flip things around and go over some of MJ's edge over Steph in claiming the GOAT title. First off, there's absolutely no question that Jordan is a better defender than Steph. Standing at 6'6", MJ had the ability to lock down any guard in his era using his length and athleticism. I mean, Jordan was a former defensive player of the year with nine all-defensive selections under his name, and aside from this, MJ was also the steals leader three times as opposed to Steph, who only has one. Now, the next point that I want to make is that while Steph Curry is universally hailed as the greatest shooter of all time, there's no doubt in anyone's mind that MJ is still the far better scorer. Averaging 30.1 points per game throughout his career, MJ is still the king of putting up points on the board, while Steph still has a lot of catching up to do, lagging behind in the 19th spot in the all-time list of NBA's greatest scorers. To further compound onto this, MJ has also bagged 10 scoring titles, while Steph has only got 2. Now, since we brought up MJ's hardware, let's now compare Steph's trophy case to see if it's at least on par with Michael's. If we take a look at this graphic right here, you'll notice that Jordan dominates the chef in terms of individual accolades. I mean, Jordan's got 3 more regular season MVPs than Steph, 5 more finals MVPs, 6 more all-star appearances, and lastly, MJ got 2 more rings over Steph. Now, after all these arguments have been presented, let's now put this one to bed by tallying up everything. When it comes to who was the more efficient player, this would have to go to Steph. When it comes to who was the better bucket getter, this would go to MJ. When it comes to who was the better offensive player, I'd say this'll go to Steph as well. I mean, teams knew how to stop MJ, as was clear by his 2 sweeps by Boston and losing to the same Detroit team 3 years in a row, but as for Steph, he's never lost a series in 5 games or less. Anyways, moving on here, when it comes to who was the better defensive player, this'll automatically go to Jordan, so as of right now, it's close to being a tie. I mean, some of y'all might still have Jordan up ahead, but it's not by much. Now, the last thing we have to compare are hardwares, and for the sake of simplicity, I'll just use championships here. MJ still has 2 more championships than Curry, so that'll end the debate currently with MJ still being the GOAT over Steph. But, the thing is, Steph is only 34 years old, and with the way the Warriors are presently constructed, they could perhaps win 2 or 3 more rings before it's all said and done. If Steph ended up with 6 rings and 3 finals MVPs, I'm sure that most people would still say that MJ edges Steph out in the GOAT debate, but where things get really murky is, what if Steph wins 7 rings? I mean, with all the lottery talent that the Warriors have, and with Joe Lacob opening up his pocketbook, although it's a long shot, it's not entirely out of the question. And while some of y'all might say, let's talk about it when we're a bit closer, there's one other narrative that isn't talked about too much. If Steph wins his 5th ring this year, would that put him ahead of LeBron? Here's what's next!