1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
No point guard affects an offense like Steph Curry does. His shooting presence is something no defense knows how to contain, which opens up driving lanes aplenty for a Warriors team that lives off of ball and player movement.
Even in a so-called down year as Kevin Durant‘s accompaniment, Curry put up 25.3 points and 6.6 assists per game on 41.1 percent shooting from deep. He bends defenses to their breaking point, and has the creativity off the bounce needed to balance out that deep threat.
Another facet of Curry’s game that often gets overlooked is defense. He’s not great in isolation scenarios, but his instincts off the ball make him more than serviceable on that end — something players like Westbrook, Irving and Lillard haven’t been in recent years.
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The former two-time MVP is legitimately among the best point guards we’ve ever seen, and his prolonged stint of dominance should continue for at least a few more years. He’s somebody who, in many ways, sparked the league’s current shift towards perimeter-oriented play, and anybody who changed the landscape of NBA basketball deserves a spot atop this list.