Many people credit Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry for changing the way basketball is played. Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum shares that same sentiment. In an Instagram live session, the rising Celtics star agreed that the former two-time league MVP is a top 20 player of all time because of his impact on the game of basketball.
“Steph's top 20 players of all time. Steph changed the game. They don't want you to shoot mid-range now, they want you to shoot trey-ball.”
As the main catalyst of a juggernaut Warriors offense, Curry is responsible for ushering this fast, pace-and-space era in the NBA. Curry and the Warriors found huge success with their three-point heavy offense, eventually winning a championship with it.
And as we know, the NBA is a copycat league. Several teams in the NBA followed suit by using a heavy dose of triples in their systems.
With the Warriors laying down the blueprint, teams soon realized how it's more efficient to generate more valuable and wide-open three-point looks than taking more easily contestable mid-range jump shots that count less on the scoreboard. That's why teams around the league are extending the floor and shooting the three-point shot at an unprecedented rate.
Curry will certainly go down the history books as one of the greatest point guards of all time. Not only does he hold and will break many of the NBA's three-point records, he also has two MVP trophies and three NBA titles to boost his Hall of Fame credentials. But as mentioned by Tatum, arguably Curry's biggest contribution is how he ultimately changed the game of basketball.