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Steve Kerr Compares Stephen Curry to Michael Jordan: His Excellence Becomes Routine
May 3, 2021
Any comparisons to Michael Jordan's greatness are sure to turn heads, and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr would know that more than most.
After all, he won championships as a teammate of His Airness and will forever be connected to him from their time on the Chicago Bulls. It was with that backdrop that the Warriors coach said Stephen Curry is starting to remind him of his legendary teammate.
"He's reminding me of MJ in that you just get so used to the brilliance and the excellence, it sort of blends in with everything else," Kerr said, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. "It just becomes routine. It's insane to say that because what you're watching is otherworldly, and yet you sort of begin to expect it. That's probably the purest sign of greatness."
While Curry will likely never catch Jordan in terms of championships (six to three) or league MVPs (five to two), he has an ability to completely take over a game on the offensive side on a nightly basis that is quite Jordan-esque.
The seven-time All-Star averaged 37.3 points per game during the month of April while keeping the Warriors afloat despite injury problems and a rotating cast of supporting players.
He set the NBA record for the most three-pointers in a month with 93 and threw himself into the MVP discussion even though the Warriors are battling for position in the Western Conference play-in tournament instead of the top two or three seeds.
Curry's ability to tilt the floor as arguably the best three-point shooter in NBA history is nearly impossible to deal with for opposing defenses, who then have to decide between sending double teams his way 30 feet from the basket and opening up the floor for everyone else or leaving one defender out on an island.
His individual brilliance has Golden State primed to make the postseason even though Klay Thompson never played this season, James Wiseman is out for the season, Damion Lee is sidelined, Kelly Oubre Jr. is sidelined and Eric Paschall is out.
As Kerr said, it is surprising at this point to see Curry be anything but brilliant in any given game even as the primary focal point of the opposition.
The same could be said about Jordan during his career.