Stephen Curry Continues To Be Slighted By His Peers

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors ground out a tough Game Five win against the Thunder — and yet, he still continues to be slighted by his peers.

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Stephen Curry, still trying to find his consistent magical shooting touch, gutted his way to several clutch buckets down the stretch of the Golden State Warriors 120-111 victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City.

But it was a defensive play by Curry that may have been the highlight of the night. Locked in a one on one matchup with Kevin Durant, the unanimous MVP, who gives at least half a foot to Durant, poked the ball away for a steal and important defensive stop.

On the ensuing possession, Curry would take the ball in for a nifty scoop layup to stretch the lead to 10 and keep the Thunder at bay.

That defensive play led to a reporter asking Russell Westbrook if he thought Curry’s defense was an underrated aspect to his game. The question was met with laughter by Westbrook, who tried to hide his incredulity behind his hands.

As has been the case in Durant-Westbrook postgame conferences of late, Durant has answered for Westbrook — and in this case he was not exactly effusive in his praise for the reigning two- time MVP.

"“He’s pretty good, but he doesn’t guard the other best point guards,” Durant said. “I think they do a good job of putting a couple of guys on Russell from [Klay] Thompson to [Andre] Iguodala, and Steph, they throw him in there sometimes. He moves his feet pretty well. He’s good with his hands. But, you know, I like our matchup with him guarding Russ.”"

Slighting Curry’s abilities and accomplishments is becoming a trend among Curry’s contemporaries and predecessors. It started to come into plain view at the end of last season, when Houston Rockets guard, James Harden, was voted MVP by his peers in the Black Entertainment Player’s Awards.

Harden openly griped about losing to Curry in the MVP vote, and felt he did more to deserve the award.

During the Warriors’ record setting regular season, several Hall of Famers denigrated how Curry has impacted the present game and how it will affect generations to come. Curry’s former coach, Mark Jackson, opined that Curry’s accomplishments will hurt the development of young players, who he says try to mimic Curry’s shooting prowess by only shooting three pointers.

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Oscar Robertson, one of the greatest triple double threats in NBA history, issued one of the more harsh criticisms about Curry’s feats, saying that he is only having such great success because defenses are not picking him up quicker and not pressuring him full court. Robertson went on to blame current NBA coaches for not developing better schemes to contain Curry.

And then there was Tracy McGrady and Gary Payton, who gave their opinions on how Curry became the first unanimous MVP selection in NBA history. McGrady opened eyes by saying that the talent in the NBA was too “watered” down, while Payton said it was a reflection of the era he plays in now.

So, why all the disrespect for Curry? It seems as if it simply boils down to the eye test, which for all intents and purposes, Curry does not pass because of the way he looks.

Curry has always been seen as smallish and baby faced, and really is the antithesis of what you think of as a “killer” in the NBA.

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James — all examples of superstars who have the look and the physical games capable of being molded into that legitimate NBA killer. Stephen Curry with the baby face, two adorable kids, loving wife and supportive parents, is seen as being too clean cut to be considered to have the characteristics needed of the top dog in the NBA.

Next: Stephen Curry Defense Call Into Question Despite Five Steal Performance

Perhaps Westbrook and Durant provided the extra ammunition and motivation to fuel an epic comeback against the Thunder. But the truth of the matter is, Curry has been proving naysayers wrong his entire life. Hopefully, he can say it in another resounding way by forcing a game seven.

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