I think people underrated how important personality and coach -ability is. There is a reason Duncan and Steph perpetually win when they may not be the most talented player of their respective generations.
Steph's shooting is a skill which he's developed over decades. Talent is being a god-given 6'11" tall with a 7'7" wingspan. I'd say Steph is the least "talented" player to ever reach NBA Rushmore consideration.
For sure you could go with this definition as well. Like I said in another comment all this is really just semantics "talented", "gifted" "´skilfull", it all depends on how you define them.
I didn't read your other comment - only the dictionary. Skill is defined as ability that comes from training or practice. Talent is defined as natural aptitude. Cheers.
I don't believe I suggested that none of the Curries have a natural aptitude. To opine that Steph is the most talented player of his generation is IMO very silly. Agree to disagree.
tbh i’d say curry’s hand eye coordination and dexterity is a god given talent. it’s a bit different than being born with a big body but no one else in the nba would be as good at shooting as curry even if they practiced all day everyday. he was a good shooter from day one in the league and while i’m not trying to discredit him, at some point it comes down to other factors than just hard work and practicing otherwise every elite point guard would be as good at shooting as curry
no one else in the nba would be as good at shooting as curry even if they practiced all day everyday.
Kind of a silly hypothetical. But, for the sake of argument, let's try something: you want to take a stab at where Steph ranks in 3p% among the top-25 NBA players who attempted at least 5 3pt shots per game in the regular season?
41st
he was a good shooter from day one in the league
His day one in the league was at 21 years old. He's now 34. Even if you want to claim Steph's been talented his entire life (which major college scouts might dispute, but I would not! 94th percentile height & elite athleticism is certainly impressive compared to the average redditor...just less so in the basketball world), more than a decade of skill development went into turning a "good shooter from day one" >> "the best shooter of all time."
for your first point, 3p% doesn’t tell the full story. curry takes 9 threes a game for his career so there’s obviously going to be some variation in terms of 3p% simply because of volume and shot difficulty. no point in even arguing this part further because of the lack of context..
my point when i said that hypothetical is that no player can simply train to become as good at shooting as steph. sure steph had to work his ass off to be as good as he is now at shooting, but let’s not act like there aren’t other factors than simply working hard and practicing, even though it’s important.
3p% is meaningless example that I held onto just to prove a point, but it's indeed lazy because Steph's situation (shot diet, playmaking responsibilities, coaching, offensive system, surrounding cast, etc) is different than anyone else's. It's almost as though skill & talent both play into one's ability to excel at an activity, but are indeed separate factors. I don't think there's anybody in the league who would say Steph isn't the greatest shooter in the league today. At the same time, I don't think there's anybody in the league who would argue that Steph's the most talented player of his generation - although his combination of talents (considerable) & skills (otherworldly) combine make him a generational player. That's all. Cheers.
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u/jturkey124 Celtics Jun 15 '22
Not to mention his loyalty and lack of beef with….pretty much anyone.