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The Golden State Warriors have won four NBA Titles in the last nine years, and within the organization, there's still a belief that they can contend for a fifth. Much of that belief stems from the presence of Stephen Curry, the record-setting, sharp-shooting, once-in-a-generation superstar who has already cemented his place as one of the ten or fifteen greatest players in NBA history.
Curry is now in year sixteen of his NBA career, and though his numbers have dipped a bit during the 2024-25 season, compare his Per 36 Minute averages this year to his first MVP season, and you'll see that this is basically the same guy as the baby-faced assassin who propelled the Warriors to a 67-15 finish during the 2014-15 NBA season.
Stephen Curry, per 36 minutes, 2014-15 season – 26.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 2.2 steals, 49-44-91 shooting splits
Stephen Curry, per 36 minutes, 2024-25 season – 26.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 1.5 steals, 45-41-92 shooting splits
As this dynastic run of the Warriors is now on it's last leg, it's worth wondering how much of the credit for all of this Curry actually deserves. Andre Iguodala, a four-time NBA champion and long-time teammate of Curry, says that the two-time MVP deserves a huge chunk of the credit.
“You can’t win a championship unless you have the best talent. And so, I’m going to go out on a limb and say 80 percent of it is Steph Curry. I know Joe [Lacob] doesn’t like when I say it that way, but it’s the truth. I mean, we all know that.”
Determining how big of a slice of the Warriors success pie should be given to Stephen Curry isn't easy. While it's safe to say that there isn't an individual as responsible for this decade-long run as Curry, he hasn't exactly had to go about it all alone. Saying that 80 percent of the Warriors success should be attributed to Stephen Curry may be generous.
Curry was flanked by four future Hall of Fame players — Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and for three seasons, Kevin Durant — and a future Hall of Fame head coach in Steve Kerr. He also benefitted from an ownership group that was eager to spend on a championship team and a salary cap anomaly that allowed the Warriors to sign Kevin Durant in the first place.
With that said, it's very easy to play devil's advocate for the other side here.
Warriors success begins and ends with Stephen Curry
The Warriors selected Curry with the 7th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, and after just a few years, it was clear the Dubs had found the face of their franchise. For as great of a backcourt counterpart as Klay Thompson was, nobody ever made the mistake of thinking that the Warriors were his team. For as vital as Draymond Green has proven to be on both ends of the floor, he was fully unlocked because he had a space-creating God to share the floor with.
Andre Iguodala joined the Warriors in large part because of a friendship he had forged with Curry years prior. Steve Kerr picked the Warriors over the Knicks predominantly because of Curry, and how easy it would be to implement his offensive system around him. Kevin Durant jumped ship to Golden State because on the back of Curry, the Warriors were a juggernaut who all but assured Durant the title he so desperately wanted.
And the Warriors, the franchise that Lacob once boldly claimed was light-years ahead of the rest of the league, were only in that position because a galactic superstar fell into their lap after he was passed over six times during the 2009 NBA Draft.
