The Golden State Warriors are now under a month away from kicking off the 2025-26 season after what has been a highly uneventful summer. Golden State looks poised to run it back with Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler leading the charge after flaming out in the second round a season ago.
Although he is not the same player as he was in his MVP years and is now much more of an injury risk (which manifested in last year's playoffs), Curry remains one of the elite point guards in the league today.
In fact, recently, ESPN conducted a poll of executives around the league on various topics heading into the year, and Curry was voted as the best American player in the NBA, getting three more votes than Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards.
Tim Bontempts noted that “with (Jayson) Tatum out of the mix, the honor instead was given to Curry, despite him being 37 years old and entering his 17th NBA season.”
Tatum is indeed expected to miss the entirety of the upcoming season with a torn Achilles injury he suffered during last year's playoff run.
“He's still the guy who scares me most,” an Eastern Conference scout said about Curry.
Still a lethal player
While he no longer has the consistency of his prime years in the mid-2010s, Stephen Curry is still one of the five or so best point guards in the NBA, and is capable of turning up the heat when his team needs it the most.
The Warriors may need it a lot this year considering the fact that they did quite literally nothing to improve their Motley crew of a supporting cast this offseason despite its clear flaws.
Perhaps something will finally emerge on the Jonathan Kuminga front before the new season emerges, but whatever it is will be unlikely to vault Golden State onto the level of teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder or Denver Nuggets out West.
Still, watching Curry play basketball remains a sight to behold, and it's hard to argue with those who were polled and gave him the top spot as the best American player.
