Poor Gary Payton.
The Hall of Fame point guard from Oakland said some things about Steph Curry that...
... don't make any sense.
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SIGN UP HERE “The position has changed very much,” Payton told Ron Kroichick of The San Francisco Chronicle. “Everybody is saying he’s one of the greatest point guards, but we can’t say that right now. That’s not going to happen. To me, a true point guard is getting assists, getting steals, doing everything.
“Now as a great shooter? Definitely. As a scorer? Definitely. That’s where the era has changed — you’ve converted 2 guards into 1 guards. When we were getting drafted into the NBA, we were true point guards. We were supposed to set up players, get other people involved, get the ball to the big men and get assists and steals, play great defense, do things like that."
Curry isn't getting assists? During his 2014-15 MVP season, he averaged 8.5 per game, and is averaging 6.8 over his first nine seasons.
Over Payton's first nine seasons, he averaged...
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... 6.8 assists per game.
Curry isn't getting steals?
He led the NBA in 2015-16 with 2.1 per game, and is averaging 1.8 in his career.
Payton averaged 2.3 steals through his first nine seasons.
“Just like with Russell Westbrook or John Wall, it’s the same thing," Payton said. "All these guys are different, because they’ve been put from a 2 guard into a 1 guard. That’s just the era we’re in right now.”
Poor Gary Payton.
Drew Shiller is the co-host of Warriors Outsiders. Follow him on Twitter @DrewShiller