NBA News: Marcus Smart opens up on having to stop Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry has won nearly everything at both the NBA and FIBA levels. Perhaps the only asterisk on his career and his impressive trophy cabinet is the lack of a Finals MVP award. He knows it, and he’s doing everything humanly possible to change that.

Curry has single-handedly kept the Golden State Warriors in contention in the NBA Finals. He was at his finest with a 43-point explosion in Game 4 and continues to show he’s one of the greatest scorers of all time.

That’s why even the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Marcus Smart, had to give him his flowers. Not even he has been able to stop him from getting whatever he wants through the first four games of the NBA Finals.

NBA News: Marcus Smart Says Stephen Curry Can Affect The Game At All Levels

“We all know what he can do outside of 20 feet, 30 to 35, 40 feet,” Smart said. “The dude is special in that regard. The way that he’s able to affect the game, being able to run around and play off the ball and get himself open. It’s just tough on a defender because you can’t take a break. The instance that you think he’s not doing anything, the play’s over for him, and that’s when you get beaten, that’s when you get burnt. That’s when that mentality comes in that you gotta stay ready, you can’t give up. You gotta keep going.”

“So, for him, he can affect the game at all levels — passing, playmaking, shooting the ball, scoring the ball. So, he got the whole package and you have to be able to guard every last thing he has, and not many players can do that,” Smart added.

Curry has changed the game forever. Like him or not, and even if you’re not a fan of new-school basketball, there’s just no way to take anything away from him. And if you don’t take our word for it, maybe you’ll listen to the best perimeter defender in the NBA.