5 Hot Takes on Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors Ahead of 2025 NBA Playoffs
Stephen Curry just created the 4,000-three club. And since his Golden State Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler, they're 13-1 and have surged into sixth place in the West.
Dig a little deeper, and you'll find a team that's fifth in offense and third in defense since Butler entered the rotation.
In other words, after it was starting to feel like the Curry era may finally be winding down, it looks like he's on a real championship contender again.
And this stretch of basketball has us wondering (and hot-taking) about just how far these Warriors can go.
Someone Will Break Curry's Career Three-Point Record
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This may seem a little premature, since Curry just got to his 4,000th three and we'd never seen a player even remotely close to him before he arrived.
But the 11-time All-Star changed the game to a degree that wherever his record winds up, it likely won't last forever (and not just because just about every record is made to be broken).
In the last season before Curry's career started, 22.4 percent of all shot attempts came from three-point range. In 2024-25, that number is 42.1 percent.
Through the end of 2008-09 (the last non-Curry season), there were 20 players in all of NBA history who had seasons with 200-plus threes. In the last five years, 47 different players have 200-plus-three seasons.
And perhaps the most striking example to suggest his eventual mark isn't immortal is the leaderboard for career threes through an age-25 season. Thirteen different players, all of whom are active, are above Curry there.
This isn't to say it'll be easy. Curry's longevity is one of the most underrated aspects of his legacy. And his three-point numbers really took off after the age-25 campaign, but trends suggest someone will catch him.
Playoff Jimmy Is On the Way
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There's no doubt the arrival of Jimmy Butler has made life easier for Curry and the rest of the Warriors.
They're 13-1 in games Butler plays. And Curry's production has skyrocketed. Since Butler joined the rotation, Curry is averaging 28.7 points, 6.1 assists and 5.0 threes (compared to 22.4 points, 6.2 assists and 4.2 threes before then).
But Butler himself hasn't been terribly assertive on his team, at least not as a scorer. That surely has a lot to do with the all-time great scorer he now plays with, but it also feels like the 35-year-old is pacing himself a bit. That's obviously something we've seen him do before.
Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the six-time All-Star has averaged 20.8 points and posted a 6.3 box plus/minus in the regular season, while putting up 24.7 points and a 7.2 box plus/minus in the playoffs.
And when that latter version of Butler shows up (presumably in the postseason), the Warriors are going to be a nightmare.
Golden State Can Finish in the Top 4
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There's a three-game gap between the sixth-place Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets, who are tied for fourth place.
With just 16 games to play, there probably isn't enough time to make that up.
But the Warriors are red hot. The Lakers are without LeBron James. The Rockets are young. And Golden State has one matchup left against each of L.A. and Houston before the campaign ends.
Home-court advantage in the first round isn't completely out of the question yet, which is a pretty wild thing to be able to say about a team that spent so much of the season hovering around the play-in range.
The Warriors Are Legitimate Title Contenders
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Golden State's best player turns 37 this weekend. And before the Butler deal, the Warriors were far from guaranteed to even make the playoffs. They were nowhere near the profile of a title contender.
But they certainly fit that now. Since Butler entered their rotation, the Warriors are fifth in points per 100 possessions, third in points allowed per 100 possessions and second in net.
In Butler, they finally have a bona fide second option to take a little pressure and defensive attention off Curry. Draymond Green looks reinvigorated. Young players like Quinten Post, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski are settling into helpful roles. On Thursday, Jonathan Kuminga returned to the rotation from an injury.
The Warriors certainly aren't the favorite in the West, but they have a combination of experience, athleticism and three-point shooting that gives them a real chance to knock off the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And, of course, Golden State has something no one else has: the greatest point guard in NBA history.
Curry is Already the Best Point Guard of All Time
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Yes, even without a fifth title, Curry is worthy of that designation. Those, like record-holders, are meant to change. And at some point in the last half-decade, he passed Magic Johnson for that honor.
Of course, plenty of old heads will still back Magic. And they will have reasonable arguments for their position.
But Curry has four titles, two of which were won without Kevin Durant. Magic doesn't have a single one of his five without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (though the big man wasn't playing anywhere near his all-time-great level for the last two).
Curry also has almost 10,000 more career points. And this season, he could pass him in career All-NBA nods (in a league with a lot more players to beat out for those nods).
The Warriors legend doesn't play like a traditional point guard, so some may be hesitant to move him this high up the mountain (jumping Magic might put him on the all-time NBA Mount Rushmore), but that's also part of the argument for him.
Curry is the undisputed greatest shooter of all time, and shooting is the most important skill in the game. He genuinely and dramatically changed the sport at all levels. If you grew up in the 1990s (like yours truly) and haven't been to a high school basketball game in a while, go check out how much more perimeter and three-point-oriented it is now.
Magic helped save the league in the 1980s. And he's held this distinction for decades. But Curry is a revolutionary, and he's seized the honor for himself.
