The league’s history is riddled with them to the point a list of the 10 best NBA second options is a must. In an effort to avoid hurling the same two or three guys at the top, however, we’re only focusing on the last decade of talent to pull from.
The just-concluded 2019-20 season saw a great many trades, sign-and-trades, and free agent signings with the intent to create dynamic duos. The most well-known transaction of this manner was, of course, the Los Angeles Lakers trading young guns Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Josh Hart, along with three first-round picks, to the New Orleans Pelicans to pair LeBron James with Anthony Davis. Another would be the Brooklyn Nets acquiring both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency.
We’ve seen these dynamic duos thrive, such as the aforementioned Los Angeles Lakers, who just won the NBA Championship. We’ve also seen unsuccessful and somewhat disappointing pairings. Such as the pairing of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who crashed out of the second round of the Playoffs after being heavily-tipped to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy at the beginning of the 2019-20 season.
With every pairing like the ones mentioned, there has to be a first option who will be the primary scorer of the ball, the leader, and the main superstar of the team. The second option, meanwhile, has to take the “Robin” role and be the secondary scorer behind the star player.
Here, we take a look at the greatest players who had to take the proverbial backseat and be “the guy behind the guy” as it were, for the past decade. Basically, let’s start to get to our 10 best NBA second options of the last decade in a second.
The list will cover all rosters from the 2010-11 season up until the recently-concluded 2019-20 season. We took into account the regular season and Playoffs statistics, as well as individual awards and team success. As a rule, each second option has to have played more than half a season with the first option, and has to have played in the Playoffs of that season as well. For example, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins formed an unlikely but dominant pairing in New Orleans back in the 2017-18 season with AD being the first option; DeMarcus Cousins would be disqualified from this list, since he only played 30 games in the regular season and none in the Playoffs due to injury.
It is also worth noting that each player/entry will count for only one duo. For example, Chris Paul was a sensational second scoring option (and playmaker) for Blake Griffin in the Clippers, and James Harden with the Houston Rockets. However, only one of his stints may be featured in this list.
With that said, here are the 10 best NBA second options of the past decade, ranked.
10.) C.J. McCollum
The former Most Improved Player, along with his superstar teammate Damian Lillard, are constantly rumored to be blown up. The duo had been together since the 2013-14 season; and up until the 2018-19 season, had been underwhelming in the Playoffs. At the time, Lillard received four All-Star selections, as well as four All-NBA selections, with McCollum getting the aforementioned MIP in 2016. In the Playoffs, however, they only got to the second round twice, getting eliminated in the first round three times. They would see their fortunes turn around in the 2019 Playoffs, going all the way to the WCF.
As the clear second option for Lillard (that’s to say after LaMarcus Aldridge left for San Antonio in 2015 after McCollum’s breakout year), C.J. McCollum averages almost 22 points and 4 assists on 46% shooting from the field and about 40% from three. He is particularly known for his midrange shot, despite it being discouraged by analytics.
Most importantly, like his compatriot, McCollum is renowned for stepping up in massive games. His most memorable games include a 37 point, 9 rebound game against the two-seed Denver Nuggets in the 2019 WCS, a game wherein Lillard went 3-of-17 and scored only 13 points. McCollum was clutch in the fourth, scoring three jumpers in the last three minutes to keep Portland ahead, as well as a chase down block on Jamal Murray.
Another notable game is his 29 points against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Orlando bubble play-in game. With Portland being down for most of the game and facing a win-or-go-home situation if they lost, McCollum scored 12 of his 29 points in the fourth, hitting two three-pointers and a mid-range dagger against Rookie of the Year Ja Morant. They ended up winning in gritty, nail-biting fashion, with the Orlando bubble’s Most Valuable Player Damian Lillard scoring 31 of his own.
McCollum and Lillard are both undersized sharpshooting guards; neither are known for their defensive ability. Despite not having the most compatible styles, C.J. and Dame have been one of the most recognizable duos in recent memory. Lillard is certainly helped by having another elite perimeter threat in McCollum, and C.J. has had a massive hand in Dame’s most iconic and successful Playoff run. The former G-Leaguer has the potential to be known as the best teammate that Damian Lillard ever had in a Blazers shirt, should they have more success in the Playoffs.
9.) Khris Middleton
Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks have taken the Eastern Conference by storm ever since LeBron James left to go to the West. They have put together two historic seasons, having a win-loss percentage of almost 75% across the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. It is safe to say that the Bucks would never achieve this without Giannis’ ultra-efficient No. 2, the unassuming Khris Middleton.
In the two seasons since his breakout 2018-19 season, being the Bucks’ undisputed second option and main perimeter threat, Middleton averaged 19.5 points per game on 40% shooting from three. He has also been selected as an All-Star in both seasons. In the Playoffs, he has maintained his numbers, averaging a slightly lower 18.3 points on just more than 40% from three.
Middleton had his moments as Giannis’ second option; performances wherein he showed his worth as an All-Star. One would be his buzzer-beating three-pointer with half a second remaining to tie the game against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2018 playoffs; he had 31 big points despite the loss. He also led the Bucks in scoring with 32 points in the Game 7 loss in the same series. Another would be a 30-piece in a 2019 ECF loss against the eventual champions, the Toronto Raptors, wherein he made 11 out of 15 shots to lead all teams in scoring.
On paper, Middleton would be the best compliment to the Greek Freak’s formidable skillset; the former is a sniper who can effectively convert the latter’s dribble-drive kick-outs. However, the knock on this duo would be the Bucks’ lack of playoff success. With Antetokounmpo and Middleton at the helm, the Bucks have gone out in the first round in 2018 in 7 against the Celtics; the 2019 Conference Finals in 6 against Kawhi Leonard’s Raptors; and the most recent drubbing in 5 games at the hands of Jimmy Butler’s Miami Heat in the ECS.
Nevertheless, the Bucks duo’s two successive monstrous regular seasons, wherein they led the NBA in wins both times, cannot be ignored. These feats would not be possible without Middleton’s efficient shooting and reliability from the outside.
8.) Kyle Lowry
Much like his former partner-in-crime DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry was known to underperform during the Playoffs. As a duo, they put together three straight impressive regular season finishes from 2015-2017; however, they would get felled three straight times by LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers as well, each elimination more emphatic than the last. Their last elimination in the hands of the King, a ECS sweep which further emphasized the LeBronto moniker, saw DeRozan get traded to the San Antonio Spurs for the disgruntled Kawhi Leonard.
People did not think much about Leonard in Toronto, much less the Leonard-Lowry duo, focusing more on the former’s free agency decision the upcoming year. The duo not only maintained Toronto’s high seeding, but they also defeated Giannis Antetokounmpo’s historic Milwaukee Bucks Team in 6 games, as well as prevented the Golden State Warriors’ three-peat while winning the Raptors their very first NBA Championship in franchise history.
As Leonard’s latest playoff run showed us, he needs an elite floor general with him on the court in order to truly flourish. This is where Lowry exhibits his effectiveness as a number two for the Klaw in their Championship run. Like how he was before Leonard came to Toronto, he was the leader of the team on and off the floor. He was the one to control the game and make the right plays for his team, allowing Leonard to focus on scoring and defense.
The 6′ point guard averaged a lower 14.2 points per game in the regular season with Leonard, but upped his assists to 8.7 per game from 6.9 in the previous season. He increased his scoring to more than 17 PPG in the Playoffs, wherein he proved to be absolutely instrumental. His most memorable game would undoubtedly be Game 6 clincher of the NBA Finals against the Warriors, wherein he went scorching hot in the first quarter, scoring the Raps’ first 11 points with 4 of 4 shooting. He finished the game with 26 points and 10 assists, his best outing in the series.
Some people would argue that Leonard left a better situation in Toronto, wherein he had the services of a championship-winning veteran floor general. The short-lived but ultimately successful pairing did wonders for Leonard’s stock as well as his legacy; it also helped Lowry exorcise the demons of past Playoff disappointments.
7.) Chris Paul
For what seems like decades, Chris Paul had a Playoffs curse: an invisible barrier that kept him from going beyond the second round. As the then-New Orleans Hornets’ lone superstar, he lost in the 2nd round twice and the 1st round once in 6 years. He then established the explosive Lob City Clippers with Blake Griffin as their primary scorer, and would make the Playoffs every year. They would, however, lose in the 2nd round and the 1st round three times apiece. CP3 would ultimately get traded to James Harden’s Houston Rockets, where the unlikely duo almost made history together.
In his first season in Houston, Paul would help Harden to his best regular season finish ever since getting traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Paul and Harden, with coach Mike D’Antoni, seemed to reinvent basketball itself that season. They employed a hyper offensive, efficiency-driven game.
Paul and Harden handled the ball and most of the scoring duties, while flanked by sharpshooters Eric Gordon, Gerald Green, and P.J. Tucker with talented big man Clint Capela holding down the paint. The team would rely heavily on isolation plays for the duo. The playmaking of the two guards would make it a daunting task for the defenders to guess what was going to happen: either they would drive to the lane and score themselves, kick it out to the waiting shooters, or lob it to Capela in the paint.
All of these plays have to be considered in conjunction, of course, to Harden’s patented step-back threes. The duo won Houston 65 games and the one seed, bettering the Golden State Warriors at their brilliant best by seven wins. Houston and Golden State would meet at the WCF after the former made quick work of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz, with CP3 and The Beard playing brilliantly.
The two teams went at each other to produce one of most exciting Conference Finals matchups of recent memory. Houston was on the verge of the unthinkable: they were up 3-2 against the full-strength Warriors going into Game 6. However, after averaging over 21 points in the Playoff run (and about 20 in the WCF), Paul suffered a series-ending hamstring injury in Game 5. The Rockets would lose the next two games without their court general, and get eliminated in Game 7, with the Rockets setting the Playoff record for most consecutive three-pointers missed with 27. It would still be Paul’s best Playoff finish, and the closest Harden has been to the Finals since his OKC days. Paul and Harden would stay together for one more season, losing in the second round of the 2019 Playoffs in 6 against the Warriors once again.
In his brief spell in Houston, Paul helped Harden to finally get his elusive MVP award. He also helped provide Houston with their greatest regular season run in history, bettering the ones set by teams led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, and Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. Out of all the players that Rockets GM Daryl Morey paired up with Harden, CP3 is undoubtedly the pick of the bunch. It’s also why he landed on this best NBA second options list.
6.) Russell Westbrook
From the start of the decade ’til the 2015-16 season, it was plain that Russell Westbrook was the second star of his team to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s best player being Kevin Durant. Nevertheless, he still managed to be the court general and point guard of a young Thunder team which made it all the way to the NBA Finals in 2012. They destroyed opponents with their quick and aggressive play combined with scintillating outside shooting. With Westbrook’s style of play, it’s easy to see how they’ve gotten that type of success, even back then when he, Durant, and then-sixth man James Harden were all younger than 25 years old.
Throughout Russell and Durant’s spell as a duo in Oklahoma, they were perennial threats to the Western Conference. They failed to go to the Playoffs just once (in the 2014-15 season, wherein Durant was injured), and did not finish under the fourth seed for the other seasons.
In this stretch, the Thunder went as far as the Conference Finals, wherein they got eliminated twice. It was the 2011-12 season, however, that would be the pinnacle of Westbrook and Durant in Oklahoma. They would finish as the second seed with a 47-19 record (this was the lockout season, which meant fewer games), below only the veteran-laden San Antonio Spurs in the West. They would then upset this Spurs team in the Conference Finals. The same Spurs team who would go to two straight NBA Finals, winning one in 2014. OKC’s run, however, would come to a crashing halt after running into LeBron James’ Miami Heat in the Finals, wherein they got pommeled 4-1.
Westbrook would come to be known as one of the best point guards in the league while playing second fiddle to Durant. In their 6-year stretch, Westbrook averaged 23.7 points and 8 assists. He got selected to the All-Star Game 5 times, wherein he was named MVP twice. He also got 5 All-NBA honors; 1 First Team selection and 4 Second Team selections. To add, he was also the 2014-15 scoring champion, in the season where he had to be the first option due to Durant’s injury. His most memorable games with Durant would come from their 2012 NBA Finals run: 27 points and 11 assists in their Game 1 victory against the Miami Heat (he and Michael Jordan were the only players to score 25+ and dish out 10+ assists in their Finals debut), and a then Playoff career-high 43 points in the narrow Game 4 loss.
The duo in question had styles which complimented each other. Durant, being the elite sharpshooter that he is, provided Westbrook with all the spacing he needed to slash inside; as seen in his time with the Houston Rockets, Westbrook thrives the most when he has the largest amount of space inside. They did achieve the unlikely NBA Finals run as well as other succeeding Playoff runs, playing some exciting, fast-paced basketball in the process. It would, however, come to an ugly end in 2016 when Durant wanted out of OKC, in the infamous “My Next Chapter” saga. This, effectively, ended his run as one of the best NBA second options in the league, as Westbrook began to be the singular star whenever he played.
5.) Anthony Davis
The Los Angeles Lakers had to move heaven and earth to get Anthony Davis out of New Orleans. This trade saga began all the way in the 2018-19 season, just months before the Playoffs. The situation somewhat turned ugly, with the trade (as mentioned in the intro) failing to fall through in the ’18-’19 trade deadline, after the Lakers players knew of the proposed transaction. But the Lakers did acquire Davis in the aforementioned trade, and the James-Davis duo has already delivered for the City of Angels.
With AD, LeBron did what many people said he could never do: he conquered the Western Conference. The tandem gave the Lakers their first Playoff berth since 2013, and their first one-seed since 2012. They also gave the Lakers its first Western Conference Championship, and ultimately its first NBA Championship, since 2010.
This was a particularly vital Finals win for the Lakers. It got them their 17th Championship, matching the record for most titles won set by the Boston Celtics. Davis, as the second option, put up remarkable averages of 26.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Davis has produced amazing performances with eye-popping statistics in his lone season with LeBron as well.
His most statistically-staggering game came in a regular season win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, putting up a monstrous performance of 50 points and 20 boards. This was the first 50-20 stat line produced since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000; Davis was only one of five players to achieve this feat, the other three being Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and George Mikan. His most important and iconic moment in a Lakers shirt came in the Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets. Aside from scoring a game-high 33 points to go along with 9 rebounds, he also scored the buzzer-beating game-winner from three, before which the Lakers trailed by one.
Due to how the Lakers were structured, Davis was a simply indispensable part of the team. The Lakers roster without Anthony Davis would be LeBron James and three-and-d guys; Rajon Rondo came alive in the Playoffs but was relatively quiet during the regular season. Davis proved to be a small-ball nightmare; teams which tend to go small such as the Miami Heat and the Houston Rockets were foiled by Davis’ versatility and speed at 6’10”. He was unstoppable almost all throughout the Playoffs, save for a handful of games wherein he wasn’t able to put up his usual production.
In terms of production, talent, and ability, AD could very well end up as the best teammate that LeBron James has ever had, if he is not yet considered as such. More than that, he has the tools to become the best power forward in the history of the game. As a second option this decade, however, he places fifth since he only spent one season as a second option; what sets him apart from the others, aside from his skill and dominance, is of course the 2020 NBA Championship. His production in the regular season and the Orlando bubble Playoffs cannot be understated; it is also worth noting that he was at his healthiest last season with the Lakers and James.
4.) Kyrie Irving
In coming back to the Cleveland Cavaliers to fulfill his promise, LeBron James was assured an elite partner-in-crime: the then 2x All-Star, All-Star MVP, and 2012 Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving. The duo would go on to create history together.
James and Irving played in Cleveland together for three years, from the 2014-15 season to the 2016-17 season. With the help of Irving, as well as Kevin Love as the third option, James continued his rule over the Eastern Conference. In this three-year span, the Cavaliers never won less than 51 games in the regular season, never finished lower than the 2nd seed in the East, and got to the Finals each time.
LeBron and Kyrie tore apart some excellent teams on their way to face Golden State in the Finals. These include the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks, who had the services of All-Stars Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Jeff Teague, and Kyle Korver; the 2015-16 Toronto Raptors who won a then franchise-best 56 games on the way to the second seed; the 2016-17 Boston Celtics led by coach Brad Stevens and MVP candidate Isaiah Thomas. In these Playoff runs, Irving averaged almost 24 points and 5 assists while shooting 46% from the field and an efficient 42.1% from three.
Irving was always a tremendous offensive threat and a clutch performer ever since his first few years in the league without James, but it was with LeBron where he produced his most notable, memorable, and important games. These include the overtime win against the San Antonio Spurs against whom Irving had a career night. In this 2014-15 regular season game, Irving put up a career-high 57 points on 20 of 32 shooting, while draining 9 of 9 three pointers and 10 of 10 free throws. Irving truly got to exhibit his renowned clutch gene while scoring all of Cleveland’s last 9 points in regulation, including a buzzer-beating three to send the game to overtime.
His best moments, however, came in the 2015-16 Finals against the Golden State Warriors. The first was scoring 41 points in a win-or-go-home Game 5, wherein he and James set the record as the first duo to score 40+ points each in a Finals game. The second, of course, being the Game 7 wherein he put up 26 points and the iconic go-ahead three-pointer, an isolation fadeaway from beyond the arc after James’ iconic block against Andre Iguodala. This was the moment that truly made Irving and James iconic; the moment where Irving was the second-best player in the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history.
Irving complimented James’ skillset rather well; he could play off the ball, be a serious outside threat to provide spacing, and alternate playmaking duties with James. The most important advantage that Irving provided was the clutch gene, which meant that teams had to focus on the two elite closers on the court, instead of just focusing and converging on James. Uncle Drew was an absolutely important piece in arguably LeBron James’ most improbable and most impressive NBA Championship run.
The 6’2” point guard still places one spot over Anthony Davis, arguably a better player than the former. This is because Irving has had a longer tenure with James, therefore contributing more to The King’s legacy as a second option. He was also the one who helped James fulfill the Promise, and win arguably his most iconic NBA Championship. It’s truly a shame how the memorable duo parted ways in such an ugly manner.
3.) Klay Thompson
Cast your mind back to 2014: the Golden State Warriors has just suffered a heartbreaking Game 7 elimination against Chris Paul and his Lob City Clippers. The Warriors at the time consisted of then 1x All-Star Stephen Curry, promising sophomore wings Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green, and a third-year sharpshooting Klay Thompson.
Even back then, Thompson and Curry have already established themselves to be the greatest shooting combo in league history, and was already known by their moniker, the Splash Brothers. However, the Warriors were considering trading the 6’7” sniper to the Minnesota Timberwolves for their then 3x All-Star and former rebounding champion, Kevin Love. The trade was ultimately vetoed by the then Warriors head consultant, Jerry West, who threatened to step down if the Warriors went through with the trade. Five straight Finals runs and three championships later, it worked out well for the Warriors in the end, with the revolutionary Splash Brothers establishing Golden State’s dynasty in the 2010s.
Together, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson rewrote the NBA’s record books in three-point scoring. The duo set the record in 2016 for the most combined three-pointers made in a season with 678, with Curry making a record 402 three-pointers, and Klay making 276 (1st and 2nd in the league). It is worth noting that they set this record several times before, and were just breaking their own record season after season. They have also passed around the record for most three-pointers in a game, with Curry holding the record with 13 after breaking his own record of 12, until Thompson made 14 against the Chicago Bulls in the 2018-19 regular season. They hold records in three-pointers made and three-point percentage, in the regular season and the Playoffs.
As an individual player, Thompson has come up huge and has produced ridiculously good games, aside from the aforementioned Bulls game. He put up 52 points, and more importantly 37 points in the third quarter alone (yet another record), in a game against the Sacramento Kings in the 2014-15 regular season. A 60-piece followed in the 2016-17 season against the Indiana Pacers, wherein he got to his career-high in scoring in less than 30 minutes of play (60 in 30 is another record). His most famous outing, however, came in the 2015-16 Western Conference Finals, wherein he put up a Playoff-high 41 points in a win-or-go-home Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. His alter-ego “Game 6 Klay”, came about due to this masterpiece.
Needless to say, Thompson was absolutely complimentary for Steph Curry, as well as the brand of play that the Warriors were trying to do. He is an exceptional perimeter defender, which means that he is charged with the task of guarding their opponent’s best guard. Along with this, he is absolutely efficient offensively. This was exhibited in the aforementioned 37-point quarter wherein he shot a perfect 13-for-13 from the field, and 9-for-9 from three. He also only took 11 dribbles on the way to his career high 60 points, and 13 dribbles in the 14-trey Bulls game. He is the epitome of a three-and-d player, but he is so much more that.
Along with the several broken records and the historic games, Thompson as the team’s second option helped Curry to win Golden State their first Championship since 1975. He was also the second-best player of the Warrior’s record-setting 73-9 season in 2016. Klay was a truly exceptional second option to the transformative Stephen Curry. We now anticipate the Splash Brothers’ return as the main foci of the Warriors offense in the 2020-21 season.
2.) Dwyane Wade
Many would compare Dwyane Wade as a Robin to the greatest sidekicks of all time; his partnership with LeBron James is up there with the likes of Jordan and Pippen, as well as Bird and McHale, in terms of dynamic duos winning the most together.
Since the start of the decade up until the ’13-’14 season, Wade and James, along with third superstar Chris Bosh, established a stronghold over the Eastern Conference. They would destroy many promising teams en route to their four straight NBA Finals appearances. These include an Indiana Pacers team led by a young pre-injury Paul George flanked by All-Star and DPOY candidate Roy Hibbert, and MVP Derrick Rose and his Chicago Bulls, who sported their best roster (and winning percentage) post-Michael Jordan. Wade and James would ultimately win 2 championships out of 4 NBA Finals.
Despite taking a step back and getting less shots, Wade still managed to maintain a 22.2 point per game average in the regular season from 2011 to 2014. This was down to him increasing his 2-point percentage from just over 50% to almost 54%. Come Playoff time, he maintained a solid 20.3 points per game as the Heat’s secondary scorer. He had a handful of scoring outbursts as well, with a 45-point performance in Houston in the 2010-11 regular season, and a series-clinching 41-point Game 6 against the Pacers in the 2o12 NBA Playoffs. Dwyane Wade was undoubtedly still capable of being the scorer that he was in his dominant stretch from 2006-2010.
What’s surprising is that DWade and LeBron’s games were not supposed to be compatible. Wade was a slashing 2 guard who excelled in the paint and the midrange with his strong inside finishes and convincing pump fakes. Like James, he also excelled with the ball in his hands as his team’s primary scorer. He was not, by all accounts, an elite three-point shooter who could provide spacing, play off the ball, and come off screens to catch and shoot jumpers at that point in his career. In his four years with James, he shot just about 29% from three-point land in the regular season and the Playoffs. One would imagine that the lack of shooting would hinder the pair from excelling, and some may argue that this did catch up to the Heat in their last season, but their accolades nonetheless remain.
What sets Wade apart is that he has already proven himself to be a winner even before James’ Decision. He has proven that he can be the star player of a Championship-winning Miami Heat team back in 2006. Wade put up a Finals MVP-winning performance against Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks, ironically the team that would defeat Miami’s super team in their first season. This is to add to Wade’s aforementioned 4-year stretch after winning his first ring, wherein he averaged more than 27 points and 7 assists. All of these strengthen Wade’s case to be one of the best shooting guards of all time, the greatest Miami Heat of all time, and indeed one of the best second options in NBA history.
1.) Stephen Curry
It’s safe to say that most, if not all, teams in the NBA would consider it a luxury to have one Wardell Stephen Curry as their first option. In a span of three years, from the ’16-’17 season to the ’18-’19 season, the Golden State Warriors had the fortune of having Curry as their second option, with Kevin Durant taking the helm of the Warriors’ main scoring option. It’s no mystery as to why they were so dominant.
Fans remember vividly the severe backlash that Durant and the Warriors received when the former signed for the latter in the 2016 offseason. This was at the back of Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder getting bounced out of the Conference Finals, after surrendering a 3-1 series lead against Curry’s Warriors. Curry’s move of recruiting the 6’10” sharpshooter to the Bay Area was seen as a move to monopolize and destroy the parity of the league, while Durant’s free agent decision was described as weak and cowardly; some fans argue that he snaked his former teammate, Russell Westbrook. What they can’t argue with is the duo’s three straight Finals appearances and two consecutive Championships.
In recruiting Durant, Curry was indubitably giving up his role as the Warriors’ primary scoring option. He took this new role upon his stride and still managed to be the undisputed best point guard in the league, averaging 26.3 points per game and just about 6 assists in his three seasons playing with Durant. In this span, he also managed to be a 3x All-Star starter (twice being named the captain of the West), while getting All-NBA Team honors each year.
He had ridiculous scoring outputs in this stretch as well, games wherein he looked like his 2015-16 MVP self. One was against the Wizards in the ’19-’20 regular season, wherein he put up 51 points, hitting the crazy off-balance, off-the-dribble threes that he was well-renowned for. Another would be his 49 points against Kyrie Irving in a gripping matchup against the Boston Celtics in the 2017-18 season, a point guard duel to remember. He always performed consistently in the Playoffs during this period as well, upping his scoring to 27.3 along with 5.9 assists.
Arguably his greatest Playoff game with Durant would be Game 2 of the 2018 NBA Finals against LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, wherein he swished an NBA Finals record 9 threes on the way to a game-high 33 points. They went on to sweep the Cavs to be back-to-back champions.
With Stephen Curry being perhaps the most dangerous outside threat in the league, Durant could be free to wreak havoc in the midrange and the paint. Durant has had his way with every defender he has faced, utilizing the spacing that Curry, as well as Klay Thompson, provided. With Steph Curry being such an unselfish teammate, his style and personality complimented that of Durant’s and they had the silverware to show for it.
Some fans would argue that, even though Kevin Durant was known to be the more superior scorer and player, it was Steph Curry who was the most important piece of the Golden State Warriors dynasty. After all, he has proven that he could get his hands on the Larry O’Brien Trophy without Durant on his team. The two-time MVP, arguably the second best point guard in NBA history, and undoubtedly the greatest shooter basketball has ever seen takes the crown as the 2010s’ greatest second option.
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