Over the course of Stephen Curry’s 17-year career he’s played with and against some of the best basketball players in NBA history. Coupled with Curry’s illustrious Hall of Fame career, he’s surely a great judge of giving his opinion on some basketball debates everyone likes to converse about.
During an appearance on 360 with Speedy, Curry revealed who he believes has the highest basketball IQ he’s ever seen, one of which is a former teammate.
“Between [Chris Paul] and [LeBron James], those two — and it’s the way they play, obviously, but the way they talk, the way they can orchestrate an offense,” Curry said. “[LeBron’s] the one that controls the tempo the greatest, and [Paul’s] the one that every possession he knows what he’s trying to get out of it. At [Paul’s] peak it was insane, he could get his bucket, could get somebody a lob, drop down pass. … Those two are top of mind with highest IQ.”
Those certainly aren’t controversial answers, as both James and Paul are considered some of the greatest basketball minds in league history. Like Curry said, the way James can control every aspect of the game is unlike anyone we’ve seen before. With Paul, there likely isn’t another player in league history that knows all the intricacies of the game like he does. He’s one of the single greatest point guard’s ever who has shown time and time again that he’s capable of elevating everyone around him.
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The way he was able to carry a young Oklahoma City Thunder team to a postseason appearance during the 2020 Orlando bubble. Or how he immediately make a significant impact on the lowly Phoenix Suns, turning them from basement dwellers to championship contenders. There’s a reason at 40 years old Paul is still garnering interest from teams around the league. He may not put up the numbers he did in his prime or make another All-Star game, but when he’s on the roster you can bet that everyone else in that locker room will walk away a bit smarter about the game of basketball.
Curry also shouted out his current teammate Draymond Green, who is always lauded for his basketball IQ and his ability to defend at a high level across the board. And while Curry didn’t throw his name in the ring for the conversation, he surely doesn’t get enough credit for the high IQ he possesses as well. If we’re talking about a singular talent and their ability to impact a game, there perhaps isn’t a more difficult player to gameplan for than Curry. It’s not just his shooting, it’s his ability to read what the defense is giving him to figure out where to pick his spots, what angle to cut or how to find open spots on the floor while flying around the court navigating through screens.
If there were a Mount Rushmore of basketball IQ players, certainly no one would have an issue with the three names Curry mentioned, as well as his own.
