SAN FRANCISCO (USA) — As a two-time FIBA World Cup winner, Olympic champion, four-time NBA champion, two-time MVP, and 11-time All-Star, Stephen Curry was already viewed as one of the best basketball players of all time.
Yet such were his performances in the USA's two toughest games at the Olympics, a 95-91 come-from-behind triumph over Serbia in the Semi-Finals, and a 98-87 Gold Medal Game win over France, that now Curry is being talked about as the GOAT!
And it's not just anybody suggesting it. It's Shaquille O'Neal.
“As the supreme leader of the big man alliance, I demand you fans to start putting Steph Curry in that greatest of all time conversation," O'Neal said on Tuesday during TNT's NBA coverage. "Just start putting him in the conversation. There's [Michael Jordan], there's Kobe [Bryant], there's LeBron [James]. Start putting Steph in that conversation. I demand it."
Shaq's timing is on point. Since Jimmy Butler joined the Warriors, Golden State has been red-hot, and Steph is breathing fire. 56 points against Orlando, 40 versus Brooklyn, and twice he made a half-court shot before halftime. With Curry on the court, his team has won 11 of their last 12 games.
There are quite a few fans that would have Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain in the GOAT conversation, too.
Maybe there are others?
What is certain is that Curry's displays at the 2024 Olympics bolstered his legacy.
His performance against Serbia was quite possibly the greatest in Olympic history. Curry buried 9 3-pointers and scored 36 points. The USA had to claw back a 17-point deficit, including 13 in the fourth quarter, to win that game.
Had Curry not played as well as he did, or missed the team bus to the game, USA wouldn't have been close to winning. Imagine the avalanche of criticism that would have fallen on those USA players, and American basketball, had Curry not saved the day?
Then in the Final against hosts France, Curry made 8 more 3-pointers, the last which has been dubbed the Golden Dagger.
He ranks that 3-pointer highest among all the 3-balls he's made in his career.
"It (Golden Dagger) takes the cake for a lot of reasons just because it’s the stage that is one game, the Gold Medal Game," he said.
Add in the clutch aspect to his shooting in Paris and it elevates him even higher. Curry made 4 of his 3-pointers against France in the last three minutes of the game without a miss.
This Golden Dagger was incredible because it came despite France's Nic Batum and Evan Fournier contesting it with their hands up to block, even as LeBron James and Kevin Durant stood wide open on the other side of the court.
James was deservedly named the MVP of the Olympics after another spectacular tournament for the King (something his fans will point to when they argue he's the GOAT).
From a skills standpoint, it’s not even close. Curry is the greatest ever from a skills standpoint
Curry sure looked like the GOAT in the USA's moment of truth, though. When it really mattered the most, with NBA legends' legacies on the line, on the brink of a devastating defeat against Serbia, or in a very difficult moment late against France, he’s the one who took care of business. Not LeBron, not KD. And he did it in an unforgettable way: the shooting, the mental toughness, the unstoppable will.
He was included in the All-Star Five.
Curry has ticked all the boxes as a professional basketball player with his four NBA crowns, two FIBA Basketball World Cup wins and his Olympic gold medal.
His Golden State, and USA coach, Steve Kerr, was told of Shaq's declaration, that Curry should be in the GOAT conversation.
Speaking on 95.7 The Game’s “Willard and Dibs”, Kerr said of Shaq: "I think he’s dead on because Steph is the most unique superstar of all time. He broke barriers, he changed the game. And what he does, really to this day, is unique to himself. I just can’t even imagine anybody doing the stuff he does."
"It’s different; the way he impacts the game is different. When you have these conversations about ‘Who’s the greatest ever?’ you automatically go to these genetic marvels; you know, LeBron and Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain and whoever else. Steph doesn’t fit that normal mold. I love that Shaq is bringing that up because, from a skills standpoint, it’s not even close. [Curry] is the greatest ever from a skills standpoint."
The 1.91m (6ft 3in) Curry has overcome the bias of not being a "genetic marvel" to achieve greatness, to become a legend.
Despite being the son of long-time NBA star Dell Curry, and despite being an outstanding high school player at Charlotte Christian in North Carolina, no major university offered him a scholarship.
The snubs allowed Davidson College coach Bob McKillop to lure Curry to the Wildcats and the rest is history. Curry revealed himself to be an NBA-caliber player in his three seasons with Davidson, with Golden State using the seventh pick in the 2009 draft on him.
Shaq praised Curry, he did not anoint him as the GOAT.
"I played against Mike, played with Kobe, played against and with LeBron. They're all great," O'Neal said. "But at some point, we're going to have to put Steph Curry in that category. I'm not saying he is [the GOAT], but let's just have the conversation. I like all the internet talk and the barbershop talk, but I ain't never seen nothing like that before, and nobody has. And how many [rings] he got? One, two, three, four, against LeBron. I demand that people start putting my guy in that conversation, period."
Shaq has campaigned for Curry to be viewed as one of the greats long before now.
There will never be a consensus GOAT pick.
"These arguments are always fun,” Kerr said. "You can’t reach any conclusion, because it’s all just art, not science. I like what Shaq said, I agree with him."
FIBA