The Golden State Warriors reached the basketball mountaintop again last season, re-planting their flag as perhaps the best dynasty in modern NBA history by winning their fourth championship in eight years. Stephen Curry was the driving force behind his team's quietly dominant playoff run and comeback win over the Boston Celtics with the Larry O'Brien Trophy on the line, torching the league's best defense en route to his first NBA Finals MVP award.
Remember the chatter about the Warriors' championship in 2014-15 warranting an asterisk because multiple contenders were brought down by injury? Or when going back-to-back three years later was brushed off as a formality of Kevin Durant joining the winningest regular season team of all time? It's telling that Golden State's latest championship hasn't been met with similar skepticism. Baseless or justified, those critiques cast a pall over the narrative of the Warriors' success during the Steve Kerr era, following them into last season after missing the playoffs two years running.
One year later, not only is Golden State receiving the unmitigated praise it's long deserved as a team, but Curry spent the offseason getting his flowers from everywhere, too.
Case in point: Curry's domination of the NBA's annual survey of general managers, released on Tuesday. The Warriors' superstar finished first in the voting of five separate questions posed to league decision-makers by NBA.com's John Schumann.
- Which player forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments?
- Who is the best point guard in the NBA?
- Which player is the best pure shooter?
- Which player is the best at moving without the ball?
- Which player would you want taking a shot with the game on the line?
Even more indicative of Curry's exalted standing among the league's individual hierarchy? Earning 72% of the tallying as best point guard and also placing in the rankings for best shooting guard, Curry in total collected 18% of the total voting on positional questions—tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo for the most in basketball.
Antetokounmpo, remember, called Curry the best player in the world at Media Day because he's the reigning NBA champions' best player. General managers didn't need to consider that dynamic while participating in the survey, but essentially came up with the same conclusion regardless. Not bad for a 34-year-old.
Curry got much more than superlative praise, by the way.
He finished in the top-three of questions about the 2022-23 NBA MVP, “best leader” and “best basketball IQ,” and also received votes as the league's best passer. Don't lose the forest through the trees, either. League GMs gave the Warriors basketball's second-best title odds, tied them with the LA Clippers atop anticipated Western Conference standings and stood them apart as the team that's most fun to watch and will have the most efficient offense this season—widespread acclaim accounted for most by Curry's singular brilliance.
Golden State won't win consecutive championships for the second time in six years on the back of Curry alone. Even the Warriors' elite “foundational six”—Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney—will need the help of a revamped bench that will fill out the bottom third of Kerr's truly unknown playing rotation to summit the NBA's peak again.
Make no mistake, though. Curry is the Warriors' dynasty, and he's finally being treated like it en masse in wake of his legendary career's most significant feat.
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