A Case Study of ‘Greatness’, and ‘Pretty Great-ness’- Lebron James and Steph Curry

Stephen Curry is great. According to some of the best players in NBA history, he’s already the greatest shooter basketball has ever seen. Objectively the most successful and decorated young player in basketball, his meteoric rise to stardom includes a compelling story of beating all odds to even make it to the NBA at all. In addition to being the premier athlete for one of the biggest companies in the country, his abilities have already begun to showcase noticeable effects on the future of basketball; assuming he stays healthy, he’s going to continue to be a major player in shaping basketball history for the entirety of his career. All that being said however, ESPN’s analysis of the most famous athletes on earth interestingly showcase Steph as only the second most famous player on his own team. During one of the most notable moments of the NBA season, Sir Charles Barkley did decree that without a wholly healthy Kevin Durant, not only would Golden State lose a series if matched up against the Cavaliers, he didn’t believe they would even make the NBA Finals.
Most of this statement is ludicrous. Charles Barkley attacks hyperbolic reactions like he does sod on a golf course. But a small amount of his assertion is an interesting statement in and of itself, especially when also considered with the fact that multiple analysts believed a path to victory existed against the greatest team ever assembled, even with Kevin Durant. Interesting specifically for Steph Curry, a defending two-time MVP (the latter awarded unanimously), and a member of the greatest team ever, that he could still manage to inspire a derisive debate and doubt among NBA viewers, as well as indicative of how much clout that his main counterpart in the Finals, Lebron James, carries as a force in the league. Around the same time Steph was being subjected to Charles Barkley’s outlandish claims, many other pundits were making the exciting admission that an avenue did in fact exist for James (ESPN’s second most famous athlete on the planet behind international soccer star Christiano Ronaldo) to enter the greatest of all time conversation with Michael Jordan.
While I personally enjoy watching Steph play basketball and live the life of an affable young millionaire, any time that he and Lebron are matched up in a game, series, or debate, I always consider myself ‘a Lebron-guy.’ Though intelligent individuals could likely make a case for why Steph is currently on a path to greater success than Lebron, frankly I’m not certain that I recognize a way that he could supplant the distinctions of greatness that separate the two in my own mind; leaving me little reason to believe that any player can. Individuals older than me often swear that neither of the two could ever reach the greatness level of their own generation’s greatest: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, etc. Looking to a comparable entertainment profession like acting, we can easily recognize greatness in different figures like Robert Downey Jr. and Daniel Day Lewis, while still also understanding that currently, there are distinctions of greatness that create barriers to separate them (box office receipts, individual awards and records, etc.). Reasonably, it seems fair to imagine that by analyzing a few common aspects of greatness (here: ability, image, and story) between a few of the greatest at anything, one might stand to better understand both the idea of greatness itself, as well as the barriers that separate the higher and lower planes of greatness. Prior to that however, here are my answers to a few questions I assume are necessitated by the premise I set forth.
Pre-Analysis Questions:
1. Is it possible to enjoy both of these individuals?
Absolutely, more than possible to enjoy these two equally, not at all, or in a flipped position to the one I suggest. But at the same time, I certainly notice a level of fandom correlation of Lebron people and Steph people in my own circles that I feel significant to explore.
2. Is this necessary?
Undoubtedly, within the period from June to August where there’s no football or basketball to actually tune into, and baseball is only at its 80th of 160 some odd games, speculation is basically a necessity if you want to have a conversation about sports. Speculation is an interesting exercise on it’s own; there’s essentially no time where it’s not an interesting debate over how many Super Bowls Tom Brady or Bill Belicheck would have without the other. There’s even a film (probably written in July) that made $155 million, featuring a plot centered around a 30-year old boxer challenging a 50-something year old Rocky Balboa to a fight because a computer simulation decided that Rocky MIGHT win IN HIS PRIME 30 years ago.
3. Are these comparable figures?
As they are different types of players, and therefore have different measurements of success, one might reasonably greet comparing Lebron James and Steph Curry apprehensively, akin to the axiom of comparing apples and oranges (the two are not perfect facsimiles of the other, thus they’re not comparable items). However, axioms are just sayings; oranges and apples are both fruit, they’re both round, and are both strikingly colored, obviously comparable material exists. As different as LeBron and Steph are, they also both happen to be millionaire family men, multiple time NBA Champions, and MVP awardees, that compete for teams that are appointment viewing whenever they take the court. While comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges, you could also look at comparing the two being more like comparing oranges and apples.
4. Assuming that I subscribe to these asserted connections of popularity and acclaim, should Steph Curry fans, or Steph himself, care whether he’s potentially considered a secondary figure in his field?
Not necessarily, but there is something to be said for the fact that he’s a part of one of the most competitive job fields on the planet. Highly competitive people rarely achieve their respective levels of success by trying to be ‘pretty good at what they do.’
Analysis:
Ability:
As mentioned previously, Steph Curry excels at playing basketball to a level so high, it may be to that of him being able to leave the game as the greatest shooter in history. And as if that wasn’t enough, he excels so much at being a great basketball player, that the concept of prying the role of greatest shooting guard from Ray Allen’s (objectively) icy-hot fingertips was so unsatisfying on its own, that he decided he also needed to work on his handles, become a top five PG as well, existing to haunt Chris Paul’s nightmares (alongside David Stern and that trainers face that broke Blake Griffin’s hand).
But if we watch sports to appreciate individuals competing at the most unreachable and exclusive levels of athletic competition, watching Lebron James is an opportunity to appreciate the complete package of everything that can be inspiring and impressive about a physical specimen. As the average American male stands at 5 feet and 9 inches, weighing in at 195.5 pounds, one might (incorrectly, but believably) look at the talents of 6 foot, 3 inches, and 190 pound Steph Curry and say, ‘if I just started shooting 3’s at the YMCA every day for a year, I could probably do that.’ But even if Lebron James were the worst shooter in the history of the league, at 6 foot, 8 inches, and 250 pounds, he cannot help but avoid inspiring such speculative hopes of any other person being able to recreate his game. Steph garnering comparisons and assessments of being the greatest shooter ever, over someone like Ray Allen or Reggie Miller, is that which cannot be overstated as a remarkable accomplishment. Unfortunately, it’s possible that his size will mute his remarkable skill set and keep any conversations of his overall greatness in comparison to Michael Jordan at bay.
Image:
The effect that Steph Curry’s style of play has had on the game of basketball is undeniable. Watch any professional or college basketball game today, go to any pick-up game at the park, players are no longer posting up and banging down low. Instead, they’re practicing running off picks, creating space, and shooting three’s, miles behind the three point line. Skills perfected and popularized in today’s NBA by Mr. Curry. But while his style of play on the court has made certain that he will be a prominent feature within the eventual book written on basketball played in the 2010’s, the style of his brand off the court has at times suffered. For every moment his adorable daughter raises his profile, I’m reminded that it may never be enough to remove the sting of what was an all-timer PR nightmare, with the roll out of his shoes, the Curry Two’s. And even though his signature shoes have since extremely improved in aesthetic appeal, it appears that considerable damage may have already occurred for Under Amours sake.
James abilities are those that have given him a playing style to place him within the canon of the greatest athletes to ever compete. Possessing the perfect mix of punishing size, electric speed, and unparalleled health and stamina for the game, all likely ensure that Lebron would have found success in any such sport he desired. More than just his accomplishments on the court however, he’s also in possession of one of the most valuable and lauded brands and images in the world: proud recipient of a One Billion Dollar lifetime contract from Nike, display of actual comedic timing and acting chops, and most impressively offering the opportunity for more than 1,000 kids in his hometown to receive a full scholarship to college. In spite of his game changing style and his wonderful family, Steph might require a few more cute children, and a few pairs of something comparable to Lebron’s, to compete in terms of the style of their brand.
Story:
With Lebron and Steph both here, we have an interesting amount of almost parallel difficulties and opportunities that acted upon them.
Steph Curry:
- Grew up around NBA locker rooms as the son of a somewhat notable NBA role player.
- Came to fame leading a previously unheard of college through a highly memorable NCAA Tournament run.
- Defied every NBA writer by not only becoming a starter level talent, but also developing his game into that of objectively the greatest shooter of all time.
LeBron James:
- Grew up in a struggling family with a single mother.
- Was heralded as ‘The King’ by the media the moment he entered the NBA straight out of high school.
- Has largely lived up to that billing through possessing a skillset predicated upon being objectively the greatest, most physically complete athlete, to ever play basketball.
This largely accounts as a wash between them, with each possessing a pretty remarkable origin story. Where they begin to differ is how James has been a part of one of the most compelling life arcs that any actor, singer, athlete, basically any person can: someone who has made a remarkable comeback. In terms of leaving his hometown team in Cleveland and becoming one of the most vilified figures in any sport, to eventually coming back and endearing himself to fans everywhere; but more importantly, leading that team to one of the greatest comebacks in sports history: winning three straight games while down 3–1 in the series in the NBA Finals. Steph has often been the BEST part of the Warriors throughout their unbelievably successful run, but ultimately he’s never been asked to do anything close to the level of what Lebron’s Cavalier team asked him to do in 2016.
Conclusion:
Not only does Steph Curry act as a representative of the ‘new school’ notions of the NBA, he actively plays a part in innovating it. By no means is it difficult to understand why someone growing up in a world where shooting almost 800 three pointers in a season is the norm, would be most effectively equipped to appreciating his level of greatness. Consequently, it’s just as simple an understanding how an individual that remembers basketball before Steph’s assault on the NBA, might be more resistant to totally buying into a player that would have had a world of difficulties playing in the more physical game found in the 80’s and 90’s.
More than just the ideas that we’re always afraid of the future and can never appreciate genius in it’s own time, it’s possible that we sometimes just more appreciate that which simultaneously exists as the most effective representation of the past, present, and future. Birdman is a remarkable movie on it’s own for so many reasons, but can it be enjoyed to it’s peak without an understanding of Michael Keaton’s career arc in the past, how good he is in the movie presently, and how much it would do for his career in the future? While restaurants like IHOP and Denny’s have been perfectly fine since they were first created in the 1950’s, doesn’t the fact that they now decide to have humorous twitter exchanges with one another make them specifically more unique and endearing businesses in your mind? A player like Lebron adapted his skill set and found success within a landscape rapidly changed around him by younger, flashier players. While it would be an overestimation to suggest that consciously or unconsciously watching such a feat is akin to being able to watch a successful allegory for real life fears play out on a basketball court, the basic principle of his later accomplishments might actually contain something of an explanation for our perceptions of greatness; the idea that we just want to watch it continue to succeed for as long as possible, in as many fashions as exist.
