Steph ‘best player in league' to Shaq; Barkley agrees

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Steph Curry might not win the NBA MVP this year, but some of the game's all-time greats believe he currently is playing better basketball than anyone in the league.

While going through highlights of the Warriors' 118-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night, Shaquille O'Neal confidently anointed Curry the NBA's best player (h/t Twitter/Antonin_org).

"This guy right here the best player in the league," Shaq said Thursday on TNT. "Y'all tripping. Steph Curry the best player in the league."

Shaq's statement also got agreement from his fellow NBA on TNT analysts, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

Over his last 15 games, Curry is posting an absurd average of 37.0 points , 5.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game on 46.7 percent shooting from 3-point range.

RELATED: Steph drops 34 vs. OKC to join MJ, Kobe in exclusive club

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Curry is a half-point ahead of Bradley Beal in the race for the scoring title going into Friday's slate of games. If he holds onto the lead, it would be Curry's second scoring title (he also won in 2015-16 with 30.1 points per game).

The complete resurgence of Curry in his 12th NBA season has buoyed a Warriors team that has been hampered by injuries. Klay Thompson is out for the second consecutive season, James Wiseman's meniscus injury cut short what was an adversity-laden rookie campaign, and several role players have been in and out of COVID-19 protocols throughout the year.

With five games to play, the Warriors are eighth in the Western Conference, and have a remote chance to jump up to the sixth seed and avoid the brand new play-in tournament. None of that would be even remotely possible without Curry filling up the stat sheet.

No matter where you rank him, Curry has been an absolute pleasure to watch on a nightly basis. Given how he has performed recently, it's hard to disagree with the NBA on TNT crew in saying no one is playing better basketball at the moment.

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