For decades, Magic Johnson has been considered the greatest point guard in NBA history. He holds the highest assists-per-game average, and would've likely been the all-time assists leader if he hadn't retired early.
The Los Angeles Lakers legend was one of the signature players at the league for the better part of his career in a time the league desperately craved a star like him to survive. His rivalry with Larry Bird will likely never be matched.
That, plus his impressive résumé, makes NBA analyst Nick Wright believes that as great as Stephen Curry is, the Golden State Warriors star still has plenty of work to do to achieve his status.
Nick Wright Says Stephen Curry Still Has A Lot Of Work To Do To Catch Stephen Curry
"Magic Johnson played 12 years in the league before he had to retire due to HIV," Wright said on First Things First. "In those 12 seasons, he was amongst the top-three MVPs nine times. He was First Team All-NBA nine times. He made the NBA Finals nine times."
"So, 75% of his years, his team was in the NBA Finals, and he was considered at the end of the year the best, second-best, or third-best player in the league," continued Wright. "He won the MVP award three times. He won five rings. Steph has work to do, but to me, what Steph has done is put himself, not in the conversation for the all-time pantheon, but he’s right there."
Curry isn't a classic, pass-first point guard, nor he'll ever be. But he's most definitely put himself in that top-5 PG ever conversation, regardless of how different his game is from those who played back in the day. But will he ever reach undisputed no. 1 status like Magic? It remains to be seen.
