Who’s better: Steph Curry or James Harden? One former teammate has ignited the debate

4 years ago

The NBA sure does provide some great debates, doesn’t it? MJ vs. LeBron. MJ vs. Kobe. MJ vs. Gary Payton.

Well, okay, maybe not quite that last one. We just can’t get enough of that chuckle. But this week, a new debate was born – namely, which of the NBA’s outstanding point guards, Stephen Curry or James Harden, is better?

Former NBA center Kendrick Perkins tipped it off.

Perkins and James Harden are former teammates, spending two seasons together in Oklahoma City from 2010-2012. And on Monday, Perkins proclaimed that his former running mate is in fact a better player than Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry, after Curry was ranked one spot ahead of Harden on ESPN’s First Take Primetime Players list.

“When you look at the body of work that James Harden has put in since the day he stepped foot in Houston, it’s crazy … When you think about James Harden, he’s gonna go down as one of the best scorers in NBA history … When I’m looking at the all-around player and who brings more to the table, it’s James Harden … As soon as he stepped foot into the Rockets franchise, he made that franchise relevant again.”

Harden and Curry have become two of the NBA’s most dominant players since they both entered the league in the 2009 NBA Draft, when Harden was the No. 3 pick and Curry was pick No. 7.

Harden is an 8-time All-Star and 5-time All-NBA First Team selection, and has emerged as one of the most prolific scorers and playmakers in NBA history.

In 2016-17, he took over as Houston’s full-time point guard and nearly averaged a triple-double for the season, putting up 29.1 points per game (second in the NBA), along with a league-leading 11.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds.

In 2017-18, Harden won his first scoring title, averaging 30.4 points, 8.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds, while leading the Rockets to a league-best record of 65-17.

That season, he also won his first NBA MVP.

Shockingly, the next year, Harden got even better.

In 2018-19, Harden averaged 36.1 points, 7.5 assists, 6.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals. In winning his second consecutive scoring title, Harden registered the 7th highest single season scoring average in NBA history – Wilt Chamberlain holds five of the first six spots and Jordan holds one spot.

Also shockingly, he didn’t win MVP. That honor went to Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.

And before the 2019-20 season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harden was on pace to win his third consecutive scoring title, averaging 34.4 points.

He was also putting up 7.4 assists and 6.4 rebounds, and continuously etching his name in the record books in the process.

It would truly take an incredible talent to potentially top all of that, right?

Steph Curry Dancing GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Hey there, Steph.

Curry’s numbers might not top Harden’s, but his impact on the NBA will be ever-lasting.

Steph is a 6-time All-Star and 3-time All-NBA First Team selection. He has career averages of 23.5 points, 6.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds.

However, Curry’s biggest trump card is his three NBA championships, his back-to-back NBA MVPs – in 2015 and 2016 – and of course, his remarkable pregame routine.

Seriously, Curry is amazing.

He is widely-regarded as the greatest shooter in NBA history and is the only player in NBA history to make more than 400 threes in a season, when he connected on 402 in 2015-16, his first MVP season.

That year, he also led the league in scoring and steals, and became the first-ever unanimous MVP selection.

Curry made 324 threes in 2016-17 and 354 threes in 2018-19; he is the only player in NBA history to have multiple seasons with over 300 made three-pointers, and only one other player in league history has made more than 300 threes in a single season – James Harden.

Steph is also one of eight players in league history in the ’50-40-90 club,’ reserved for guys who shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 90 percent from the line. However, of the 12 seasons where a player accomplished the feat – Steve Nash did it four times and Larry Bird did it twice – Curry has the second most field goals made and attempted, the most three-pointers made and attempted, and the most points per game, making his version of the feat all the more impressive.

So. This is a really tough call.

Is Perkins correct that Harden is in fact a better player than Curry? Or do Curry’s record-breaking accomplishments put him above the game’s greatest scorer?

Our own Chris Broussard shared with us his thoughts on the debate, saying that while Harden may be just as skilled, if not more skilled than Curry, the 2-time MVP is clearly the better player due to his ability to impact winning.

“When you talk about who’s better in an NBA context, it’s not about who would win a game of one-on-one; nor is it a checklist of skills. It’s about who impacts the game more in terms of winning. And that beyond the shadow of a doubt is Steph Curry. Steph Curry has been the main cog for one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history. Steph Curry has changed the way the game of basketball is played from the elementary level to the pros. Steph Curry is the only unanimous MVP in the history of the game. When you tell the story of basketball, Steph Curry is on page one. James Harden’s in the story, but it’s awhile before you get to his name. It’s Steph. Case closed.”

And ESPN’s Max Kellerman doesn’t think it’s that close of a call, crediting Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni for boosting Harden’s stats and career overall.

“Steph Curry. It’s an easy answer … Mike D’Antoni can make a nice player like Jeremy Lin look like an All-Star, a great player like Steve Nash look like an MVP, and a legit great player like James Harden look like an all-time great. In D’Antoni’s system, James Harden is putting up Steph Curry numbers. He’s leading the league in scoring but there’s no higher usage rate than the primary ballhandler in a D’Antoni system. Of course his stats are gonna be goosed … Could you imagine if Steph Curry ran a D’Antoni system?”

D’Antoni has become famous for his offensive schemes that put the ball in his best player’s hands and allow that player to make nearly every decision on the offensive end.

In the four seasons prior to D’Antoni’s arrival in Houston, Harden averaged 26.9 points, 6.6 assists and 5.4 rebounds, while shooting 6.9 three-pointers and 10.9 two-pointers per game.

Since D’Antoni’s arrival before the 2016-17 season, Harden is averaging 32.5 points, 8.7 assists and 6.6 rebounds, while shooting 11.3 three-pointers and 10.3 two-pointers per game. His numbers have taken a dramatic leap, which is often the case with star guards under D’Antoni.

Case in point: the 2004-05 season marked Steve Nash’s return to Phoenix and that year, where D’Antoni was the coach. Over the next two years, Nash would go on to win back-to-back MVPs. Then, in 2008-09, D’Antoni took over as head coach of the New York Knicks, and a few years later, Linsanity happened.

Jeremy Lin – an undrafted second-year player out of Harvard University – took over as point guard for the Knicks under D’Antoni in the middle of the 2011-12 season and from Feb. 4 to March 12, Lin averaged 20.4 points and 8.6 assists.

Clearly, D’Antoni is a miracle worker – but for what it’s worth, he gives Harden the lion’s share of the props.

Back to the debate.

The key discrepancy between Curry and Harden isn’t numbers. It actually appears to be team success.

While both can lay claim to gaudy stats, Curry has won three NBA championships with the Warriors, and en route to two of those titles, Golden State has defeated Houston in the playoffs.

The Warriors knocked off the Rockets in five games in the 2015 Western Conference Finals, and then defeated Houston in seven games in the 2018 Western Conference Finals.

Curry’s Warriors also beat Harden’s Rockets in five games in the first round of the 2016 NBA playoffs and in six games in the Western Conference Semifinals last season, even though Golden State failed to win the championship in those two seasons.

Then again, one could make the argument that Curry has always played with other superstar teammates, including Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, and that Curry has never won a Finals MVP – Andre Iguodala won the award in 2015 and Durant won it in 2017 and 2018.

Just this month, Skip Bayless proclaimed Durant the best player in the NBA because of his last two Finals performances, where he averaged 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists, which Curry complimented with 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 9.4 assists and 2.0 steals.

“He’s a 7-foot monster with a 7’5″ wingspan … When you add up the total package … that’s more valuable than LeBron.”

Can Curry be considered better than Harden if he’s not even the best player on his own team? What do those wins mean if Harden was often forced to carry his team while Curry could, at times, be carried?

In Curry’s defense, the Warriors made it to back-to-back NBA Finals in 2015 and 2016, before Durant arrived in Golden State, and in both of those seasons, Curry was the unquestioned best player on the team, in the midst of redefining the NBA with his three-point shooting.

However, Harden’s scoring has also redefined the NBA, considering he has the most 50-point triple doubles in NBA history (5) and recorded the only 60-point triple double in league history on Jan. 30, 2018.

The good news is Curry turned 32 in March, and Harden will turn 31 in August, meaning NBA fans have at least a few more years to hash this thing out.

And with Durant now in Brooklyn, and Harden joining forces with Russell Westbrook in Houston, maybe we’ll see a more even matchup next time the Rockets and Warriors face off in the playoffs.

Harden’s got the numbers. Now all he has to do is secure the wins.

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