In the same New Yorker interview where Indiana Pacers hero Reggie Miller made the point that you don't have to be a ... ahem ... jerk to be great in the NBA, Miller also commented on how he could beat Curry as a shooter back at his "peak."
This is easy clickbait. Really easy. Because it takes very little basketball knowledge to understand that Stephen Curry is a better player -- and better shooter -- than Miller ever was. Miller is a legend. In his day, he was truly phenomenal and his catch-and-shoot prowess was as good as anyone's. In today's NBA, he would be devastating as an off-ball shooter. He is every bit worthy of his Hall of Fame status.
Curry's a whole other universe. There's no comparison, because there's no comparison with Curry to any other human being that has ever shot a basketball. He's like Pete Maravich crossed with Steve Nash crossed with Miller crossed with a unicorn. It's not close.
However ... you should not get upset about it. You should not throw crying-face emojis at the headline, or accuse Miller of being "salty" or outdated. The entire piece is largely about Miller detailing the incredible number of ways Curry is incredible. Here's the actual quote in question:
All truly great shooters—Dale Ellis, Larry Bird, Craig Hodges, Chris Mullin—we always believed that we were the best shooters in the world,” Miller continued. “So, yeah, I’d take down Steph at my peak. Sure, my form wasn’t as good as his. But it’s all about results, man.”
Source: Reggie Miller Sizes Up Steph Curry - The New Yorker.
Let me translate that for you.
"I worked really hard, harder than most people ever work at anything, to be a top-10 shooter in NBA history. In order to have the confidence to achieve that level of success, I had to adopt the attitude that I was the best, or at least that no one could 'beat' me. So I'm never going to actually concede that I could be beat. It's not in my DNA."
It turns out professional athletes are prideful people. That's OK. That's what makes them great.
Miller's career-high for made 3-pointers in a season was 229 in 1997. Curry has 119 through 23 games this season. The results speak for themselves. Curry's over half-way to Miller's career total of made 3-pointers through 17 seasons, and it has taken him 6.25 seasons.
You could throw every number in the world at Miller and he'd likely just put his hands over his ears and yell "I can't hear you, nah, nah-nah, nah!" No one will ever be better in his mind, and that's OK. Anything else would be inauthentic, and that's way less interesting. Miller simply saying he would get trounced by Curry does a disservice to his own career, which he put years of work into. Miller knows how good Steph is. He just doesn't need to put Curry over himself, nor does anyone else need to.
