Where Steph Curry ranks on ESPN’s 2023-24 top-10 NBA players list originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Steph Curry is showing no signs of slowing down entering his 15th NBA season, but where does he rank among the best players in the world?
ESPN released its annual list of the top-100 players in the league, and after dropping Nos. 100 to 51 and Nos. 50 to 11, the top 10 finally have been revealed.
Spoiler alert: Curry cracked the top 10, and for the third straight year, his ranking didn’t change.
The Warriors superstar was listed as the fifth-best player currently in the NBA, behind Luka Dončić, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who earned the top spot on the list.
Here’s ESPN’s full list:
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Giannis Antetokounmpo
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Nikola Jokic
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Joel Embiid
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Luka Dončić
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Steph Curry
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Jayson Tatum
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Kevin Durant
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
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Anthony Davis
The rankings were compiled by ESPN’s expert panel which voted on player-versus-player matchups from more than 15,000 possible pairings. Voters were asked, “Which player will be better in 2023-24?” and had to predict how each player will perform this season.
“Curry had one of the best offseasons in the NBA — second to maybe just Nikola Jokic — and he enters this season eyeing a deeper run in the playoffs and possibly his fifth ring,” the ESPN.com article reads.
“Why his ranking was unchanged: For the third straight year, Curry is ranked No. 5. He led the NBA in 3-pointers made for the third straight season, doing everything he could do to help his team stay afloat, but the group’s struggles and chemistry issues were too much for Curry to overcome by himself. Curry also suffered two different injuries that limited the two-time MVP to 56 games.
“One huge question for 2023-24: Can Curry make a case for another MVP? Curry came in third place in award voting in 2021, behind Jokic and Embiid. That year, Curry led the league in scoring with a career-best 32.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 42.1% from 3. Even at 35 years old, Curry still has that magic in him — is it enough to leapfrog the likes of Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Embiid and break the run of big men dominating the MVP race?”
Last season, Curry averaged 29.4 points on 49.3-percent shooting from the field and 42.7 percent from 3-point range, with 6.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 56 games.
His postseason numbers were just as impressive, but he had little to no offensive support from his teammates.
Golden State made moves in the offseason to better prepare the Warriors for a better playoff and hopefully championship run, most notably including trading Jordan Poole for veteran point guard Chris Paul.
“Curry’s path to the No. 1 ranking: Last season, Curry averaged the third-most points in his career (29.1). But on-court support wasn’t there, and neither was team chemistry,” the article reads. “Now, he’s playing alongside one of the best point guards in the league in Chris Paul, and through just a handful of preseason games their partnership seems strong.
“If Curry can play off the ball with Paul dishing him assists, as well as create his own shot, there’s no reason Curry couldn’t rejoin the conversation as the league’s best player.”
After last season’s disappointing playoff exit, Curry likely has other goals on his mind for the 2023-24 season. And that all starts in just a few weeks.
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